RAWALPINDI, June 30: Over 200 lawyers from the Rawalpindi District Bar Association staged a protest demonstration outside the office of city police officer (CPO) demanding arrest of two policemen for allegedly torturing their fellow lawyers and hurling threats of dire consequences on them.

The protest resulted in the registration of an attempt to murder case against Tausif and Mohsin Ali, the two constables of Waris Khan police station, and transfer of Civil Lines SHO Malik Sajid.

The lawyers also boycotted court proceedings which caused hardship to hundreds of people coming to the district courts to pursue their cases and other issues.

President of the bar association Malik Jawad Khalid said his colleague Khalid Naveed Bhatti had parked his car outside the district courts last Tuesday when the two constables parked their van behind it. When Khalid along with his colleague Amjad Kiani was leaving the court premises, he asked the two policemen to give way to him. However, the policemen started quarrelling with them.

He claimed that one of the policemen took out a large needle from the van and attacked Mr Kiani while the other hammered Mr Bhutt with the butt of his gun. When another lawyer, Mohammad Ali reached there to intervene, he was also attacked by the policemen. Mr Khalid claimed that when they approached the Civil Lines police station, the SHO refused to register a case against the accused.

City Police Officer Azhar Hameed Khokhar and SSP operation Yasin Farooq assured the lawyers that action would be taken against the constables, Tausif and Mohsin Ali, after which the protesters dispersed.