MANSEHRA: Lawyers observed a strike across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday against the arrest of Supreme Court counsel Munir Hussain Lughmani allegedly for sheltering a young missing couple.

Mr Lughmani later got the transit bail from Mansehra’s district and sessions judge until June 12 with the orders for appearing before the relevant Karachi court in the case.

Assistant superintendent of police Hafiz Janis Khan called Mr Lughmani to his office and ordered his arrest in the Dua Zohra kidnapping case.

A contingent of police produced the lawyer before judicial magistrate Furqan Mushwani in an armored personnel carrier vehicle. The other lawyers circled him and shouted slogans against the police.

Mr Mushwani referred the case to district and session judge Ziaur Rehman prompting the police to present the arrested counsel before him.

Mr Lughmani, a former president of the district bar association and member of the KP Bar Association, told reporters after release that he had nothing to do with the Dua Zohra case as the police called him many times seeking his support for the arrest of Dua Zohra and her husband.

“I demand the formation of a judicial commission to look into my case,” he said.

He said counsel for the missing couple was his relative.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chairman of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council Mohammad Ali Khan Jadoon and executive committee chairman Mohammad Ilyas Khan They demanded in Peshawar that Mr Lughmani be released without delay and inquiry be initiated against the relevant officials.

On the call of the bar council, the lawyers observed a strike in Peshawar and other parts of the province.

In a meeting, the Mansehra District Bar Association passed a resolution announcing two-day strike and demanding a strict action against

the police officers involved in the arrest of Mr Lughmani.

On Wednesday, the Lahore High Court had given the police one week to produce Dua Zohra, who was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi but was announced she had married a Lahore resident of her own free will.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2022