November 12, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 01, 1428

ATTOCK, Nov 11: The entire leadership of Pakistan People’s Party Attock has gone underground to avoid arrest after the detention of its secretary general Dr Malik Naeem Awan.

So far, five PPP leaders, including Dr Naeem, have been arrested by the police and kept in different police stations of the district.

Besides, 10 other people including District Bar Association president Rana Afsar Ali Khan and seven local opposition leaders including PML-N Attock city vice-president Dr Sheikh Waseem and secretary information PML-N Khalid Mehmood have also been arrested and shifted to different jails of the Punjab.

The police crackdown still continues to arrest opposition activists and lawyers to pre-empt their reaction to the government move.

BOYCOTT CONTINUES: The lawyers in Attock continued their boycott of court proceedings for the seventh consecutive day on Sunday.

At a general body meeting of the DBA held at an undisclosed location, the lawyers decided to continue their protest till the lifting of emergency. The meeting was chaired by its senior member Sheikh Ahsanuddin.

Speakers at the meeting said lawyers’ movement would continue till the reinstatement of deposed Chief Justice Ifitkhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges of the Supreme Court and release of lawyers, journalists and political activists.

The regretted that the Attock jail administration had not allowed lawyers to meet their arrested colleagues including former president SCBA Munir A. Malik, who is ill at the jail due to lack of proper medical facilities.