LAHORE, Aug 15: A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday released five employees of the Population Welfare Department (PWD) on bail who had been arrested on charges of ransacking offices in Punjab Civil Secretariat.

The bench directed the accused namely Wasim Dar, Usman, Imran, Abid and Akram to submit surety bond of Rs100,000 each.

A number of PWD employees from across Punjab had staged a protest demonstration outside Punjab Civil Secretariat in May. The protesters allegedly broke the security barricades, entered the secretariat and ransacked the offices. Out of 172 arrested protesters, 166 were later released.