KASUR: The Saddar police registered a criminal case against 17 people, including three lawyers, for allegedly attacking a police team with clubs and weapons on Saturday.

According to the police, the suspects injured officials and tore apart their uniforms. The FIR was filed under the various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and the Motor Vehicle Rules of 1969.

Complainant SHO Mushtaq Haider said in the FIR that the attackers disturbed public order by beating the officers on the road, creating a hindrance in traffic flow and tearing apart the officers’ uniforms.

The issue started when the police arrested a man whose car hit a rickshaw, leaving three people, including a woman, injured on Raiwind Road bypass.

Bar President Fahad Akram told a press conference that the Saddar police dragged car driver Bilal Ahmad on the road after handcuffing him while the officials sat on a bike. He shared a video clip showing the officials sitting on a bike while Bilal was being dragged.

The bar president also said that Bilal called his family members, including three lawyers, to complain about the police highhandedness.

When the family members arrived at the scene, they argued with the officials and eventually got the driver released.

The bar president further claimed that the police, in retaliation, attacked the houses of the lawyers, allegedly trespassing on the premises, ransacking the households and manhandling the inmates, including women.

The police registered an FIR against nine nominated people, three of whom are lawyers from the district bar — Imran Sharif, Waqar Younas and Sagheer Ahmed.

Lawyers from the district bar and three tehsil bars went on strike and boycotted court proceedings.

Bar President Fahad Akram and Secretary General Ahmed Latif held a press conference at the bar library.

Mr Akram said the public and lawyers were feeling a sense of insecurity due to the police’s highhandedness.

Separately, A-Division police lodged a case against 16 suspects, including lawyer Sharif Sodal, for allegedly beating a man for producing and recording evidence in the local anti-corruption court on Friday.

Bar Secretary Ahmed Latif vowed to continue the strike until the case was cancelled and the officials were punished according to the law. He said the police had failed to protect the lives and properties of the people and were instead abusing their power to achieve petty ends.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2024