GUJRAT, Sept 17 Police could not arrest on Friday two lawyers and three other people accused of lynching a man to death in public at Mehmda Chowk on Bhimbher Road on Thursday. The family of Tariq Mahmood met Gujrat District Police Officer (DPO) Afzal Kausar and warned him of a 'massive' protest if the accused were not arrested till Saturday (today).

Saleem Sarwar, the brother of the deceased and also complainant in the case, said they would block GT Road till the arrest of the accused. Tariq Mahmood was laid to rest in Looran village late on Thursday.

Civil Lines police registered a case against lawyers Nadeem Tahir and Naeem Sandhu and three unidentified people for lynching Tariq Mahmood over a brawl stemming from a traffic row.

The family alleged that some police officials present at the crime scene did not stop the accused from killing Tariq Mahmood and also later helped them flee the spot.

Dawn learnt the police have arrested the father and brothers of Sandhu in the case to pressurise them to surrender the accused to the police.

Sources said surveillance cameras installed at Mehmda Chowk could not cover the entire incident, however the cameras captured some footage of the incident.

The DPO said he had grilled police officials accused of showing negligence and learnt that a police mobile van was sent to the site on a phone call made by the lawyers. He said sub-inspector Mubarak Shah, passing by in his private car, stopped and intervened in the brawl. A lawyer involved in the brawl asked Mr Shah to register a case against Tariq Mahmood, who had by the time was shifted to nearby Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital. The police official in question had no idea if Tariq Mahmood was alive or dead, so he did not arrest Sandhu and his accomplices.

He said the footage was shown to the heirs to the deceased to confirm the fact that no policeman was present at the crime scene. However, witnesses said some policemen from 'Muhafiz Squad' were present near the crime scene and they acted bystanders.

District Bar President Chaudhry Badrussalam, Vice-President Usman Warraich and Secretary Bilal Gorsi expressed their sympathies with the family of Tariq Mahmood and called for an inquiry.