KARACHI: Lawyers stayed away from courts in several towns of the province on Thursday in response to a call for boycott given by lawyers organisations to protest against targeted killing of Jacobabad sessions judge’s son a day ago.

In Karachi, legal proceedings came to a halt in lower courts after the Karachi and Malir bar associations gave a call for boycott to condemn the murder of Aqib Shahani, son of district and sessions judge of Jacobabad, Khalid Hussain Shahani.

Hundreds of cases fixed for the day were adjourned and undertrial prisoners brought to the city courts and district courts in Malir were sent back without being produced in courts.

SHC takes notice: Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Justice Maqbool Baqar has taken notice of the murder of Jacobabad judge’s son and ordered IGP and SSP of Hyderabad to depute an honest officer not below the rank of DSP to conduct the probe into the murder, said SHC registrar Fahim Ahmed Siddiqui, PPI adds.

He directed the SSP to personally monitor the probe and submit him a report within two days and directed police officials to provide adequate security to all judicial officers and their families including the bereaved family and submit report in this regard.

Larkana

Lawyers in Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot boycotted courts as most of the judges and lawyers attended funeral rites of Shahani in Naudero.

The office-bearers of SHC and district bar associations condemned the murder and demanded the government immediately arrest the killers.

Victim buried: Aqib Hussain Shahani, 19, son of the district and sessions judge, Khalid Shahani, who was killed in a targeted attack in Hyderabad late on Wednesday night was buried in Ghirgal Shah graveyard near Naudero on Thursday.

SHC judge Aftab Gorar, judges of lower court, president of SHC bar association Asif Soomro, Additional Advocate General of Sindh Abdul Hamid Bhurgri and a large number of lawyers, relatives and friends attended the funeral rites.

Khalid Shahani told journalists in Naudero that the killers had chased the car which his son was driving and confirmed his name before committing the crime. It might be a targeted killing, he said.

Aadil Shahani, late Aqib’s younger brother, said that five assailants in a vehicle began chasing their car from civil court and intercepted them at a deserted section of the road behind the club road.

“They asked his name before dragging him out from behind the steering wheel and spraying him with bullets in the presence of our mother and sister,” he said.

Aqib was a student of law at the S.M. Law College in Karachi and had recently comet to visit the family, he said. “We rushed him to the civil hospital but he had already died,” he said.

Hyderabad

The circuit bench of Sindh High Court, district and sessions court and other lower courts remained shut following a call for strike given by the Sindh Bar Council.

The High Court Bar Association Hyderabad president Nisar Ahmed Durrani demanded the government immediately arrest Shahani’s killers and provide adequate security to lawyers and judges.

Sukkur

Lawyers as well as judicial staff completely boycotted courts in Jacobabad and took out a rally from the court, wearing black armbands as mark of protest over the murder of judge’s son.

Mirpurkhas

Lawyers boycotted courts and demanded the government immediately arrest Shahani’s killers and provide security to lawyers and their family members.

Naushahro Feroze

Lawyers in Nausharharo Feroze and its adjoining towns boycotted courts and demonstrated at the gate of judicial complex in Naushahro Feroze, demanding immediate arrest of killers of the judge’s son.