BAHAWALPUR: Burewala police claimed on Sunday to have arrested 11 lawyers, including tehsil bar association president and secretary for allegedly demolishing an official residence to grab a piece of land for construction of lawyers’ chambers.
During the police action to retrieve the state land, three policemen suffered injuries, who were shifted to the THQ hospital for treatment, the police claim.
According to official sources in Vehari, around 100 lawyers, along with over 200 unidentified men, allegedly attacked a premises adjacent to official residences to illegally occupy the state land for construction of chambers.
The building, owned by the Punjab government, was meant for revenue officials, but presently it is allotted as residence to a civil judge’s reader.
Three cops injured in police action to retrieve the state land
The officials said that the lawyers, who also brought construction material with them to build their chambers, arrived at the premises after office hours on Saturday and demolished the building.
However, on being informed of the incident, a heavy police contingent and revenue officials also reached there and retrieved the state land. The police also seized the construction material brought by lawyers.
A district administration spokesperson told Dawn that a case against the lawyers and their accomplices has been registered on the complaint of Ehsan Elahi Sabri, the reader of Burewala Additional Session Judge (ASJ) Sajjad Afzal.
In his complaint, the reader alleged that some 250 lawyers and private persons carrying firearms illegally demolished the house No 5 in the Old Judicial Colony, Burewala.
He stated that the attackers burnt the north boundary wall of the house after sprinkling petrol and resorted to indiscriminate aerial firing, adding that they also threatened him of dire consequences and fled away when the police arrived.
The spokesperson stated that the Vehari district and sessions judge and Burewala additional sessions judge were contacted to prevent the lawyers from illegally occupying the state land and the official residence, but of no avail.
He said that the state land was never allotted to lawyers for the construction of their chambers.
He said the lawyers “illegally attempted” to possess the state land and challenged the state’s writ, seeking action against “violators of law”.
The spokesman added that earlier the lawyers had also attempted to illegally possess a piece of state land reserved for a vocational training institute but the bid was foiled and to protect the institute land, walls were constructed around it.
Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2025
