LAHORE, Jan 17: The Punjab Bar Council (PBC) announced on Wednesday that it would hold a protest demonstration and boycott courts on Friday all over the province against the killing of additional advocate-general Arif Bhinder and another lawyer.

PBC vice-chairman Azhar Chaudhry said the lawyers’ community had given a three-day deadline to the government for the arrest of the killers, but no progress had so far been made.

Meanwhile, lawyers at subordinate courts in the city continued protest for the fourth consecutive day against the killings. Dozens of lawyers staged a sit-in outside the Aiwan-i-Adl before they marched up to the Civil Secretariat. They also tried to force their entry into the secretariat, but the security officials deployed there thwarted their attempt. Other lawyers on court premises did not attend any proceedings and wore black armbands.

The additional advocate general and seven others were shot dead on Friday over an old enmity, while the other lawyer, Niaz Sindhu, was also killed the same day.

Lahore Bar Association (LBA) president Imran Masood condemned the slackness of law enforcing agencies, threatening that the strike would continue until the arrest of the nominated accused in both the cases.

SP Kamran Yousuf, working at present with an intelligence agency, and MPA Mansha Sindhu had been nominated in the two incidents, and the police had not yet arrested them.

The LBA president also demanded of the government to give Rs5 million compensation to each family. —Staff Reporter