BAHAWALPUR, Oct 27: Police on Monday morning picked up a senior lawyer from his chamber on district court premises and released him following a protest rally by district bar members and lawyers.

District bar secretary-general Chaudhry Muhammad Jamil told Dawn that as soon as Lahore High Court Bar Association, Bahawalpur bench, ex-president Abdul Subhan reached his chamber, a police contingent came there, bundled him into a van and went away.

Jamil said he and other lawyers contacted various police stations but could not ascertain the whereabouts of Mr Subhan. Even the office of sub-divisional police officer was locked, he said.

Later, he said, police informed them that Subhan had been arrested in connection with a criminal case. According to police, a case had been registered the other day against Subhan and his son Safwan who had a dispute with his wife over the custody of his son.

After the arrest, the lawyers staged a protest demonstration from the bar room and reached the DPO office.

A delegation, led by junior lawyers in the absence of both district bar president and secretary-general, called on DPO Azhar Hameed Khokhar who assured them of early release of their colleague.

Later, this correspondent learnt that the police had released Mr Subhan.

When contacted a police source said the name of Subhan was included along with his son in the FIR and as such he had been taken into custody for interrogation.