LAHORE, Jan 26: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday cancelled interim bails of DIG Malik Muhammad Iqbal and four other police and health officials allegedly involved in the Sialkot jail firing.

Comprising Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif and Justice Tanvir Bashir Ansari, the bench confirmed the bails of 12 Elite Force personnel who also were involved in the case and allowed pre-arrest bail.

The DIG, Gujrat DPO Raja Munawwar Husain and Sialkot DPO Amjad Javed Saleemi, and Dr Muhammad Firdaus Shah and Dr Sajid Husain of the Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital fled from the courtroom where they were present in police custody.

The court decision came in the proceedings of an appeal against an LHC single bench, which allowed all the 17 accused pre-arrest bail. The appeal was moved by Advocate Syed Ghualm Abbas Bokhari, the father of one of the deceased civil judges, Syed Shehryar Bokhari.

The decision was announced after the petitioner-advocate concluded his arguments opposing the pre-arrest bail as an extraordinary legal concession which, he submitted, was not available in so heinous a crime and at this stage of the proceedings of the trial.

This is the third time that senior police and health officials have escaped from court after their interim bails were cancelled. They did the same when Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif cancelled their bail before arrest two months ago. They also fled when an Anti-Terrorism Court cancelled their bail before arrest.

They were granted pre-arrest bail by a single bench of the LHC when they were still absconding after the ATC of Gujranwala rejected their applications for the same purpose.

ACTION: A high-ranking Punjab government official when contacted told Dawn that no action had so far been taken against the accused officials, adding "I have no idea as to what action the accused deserved. Ther is nothing on it so far from the government side."