GUJRANWALA, Jan 4: The sessions court on Tuesday ordered the regional police officer to book an SHO and four traffic wardens for 'torturing a lawyer and implicating him in a criminal case'.

Lawyer Muhammad Afzal of Kamoki pleaded that he was on his way to the sessions court by a passengers van. He said that in front of Sheranwala Bagh on GT Road warden Nawaz, who was riding a slowly moving bike and using his cell phone, obstructed the traffic.

The lawyer said when he asked the warden to give way to the van and that he should not be using a cell phone while riding the bike, he (warden) became infuriated, dragged him (lawyer) out of the van and subjected him to torture with the help of some of his colleagues (wardens).

The lawyer said the warden then took him to Sabzi Mandi police station where SHO Inspector Amir Shaheen Gondal detained him (lawyer) in the lock-up, implicating him in a criminal case.

Judge Abdul Nasir ordered the RPO to register a case against the accused wardens and the SHO. ADJOURNED:

An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of case of lynching of two brothers in Sialkot without any proceeding till Jan 19 as the judge of the court was transferred.

District and Sessions Judge Syed Kazam Raza Shamsi adjourned the case as no other judge had so far replaced Syed Iftikhar Husain Shah, the transferred judge.

Earlier, 27 accused, including nine policemen, were produced in the court amid tight security. Former Sialkot DPO Waqar Ahmad Chohan did not appear in the court.

Chohan's counsel Khursheed Ahmad Sodhi told the court that his client was a resident of Rawalpindi and he could not appear in the court due to unavoidable circumstances, requesting the judge he should be exempted from attending the proceedings of the day.

The judge accepted his request.

GUJRANWALA, Jan 4: Two constables were arrested while three others, including an SHO, 'slipped away' when a police party tried to nab them in connection with escape of two criminals from custody on Tuesday.

Reports said Asif, an accused in a dacoity case, and Afzal, facing charge of possessing illegal arms, respectively, booked by Garjakh and Sabzi Mandi police, were produced in the court on Monday. However, both the accused escaped from police custody when they were being escorted to the court lock-up.

Taking notice of the incident, the SSP (operation) got registered a case against the court lock-up in charge, SHO Inspector Athar Masood, Moharrar Yasin and three constables.

When the Civil Line police conducted a raid to arrest them, the three accused policemen fled the scene. Two constables, Sarfraz Ahmad and Shaukat Ali, were arrested in the raid.