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Friday March 29, 2024

Lawyers turn to Rangers for protection

Karachi Karachi’s lawyers boycotted courts and staged rallies on Saturday in protest against the murder of a former Karachi Bar Association office-bearer a day earlier and announced that they would again stage a strike on Monday (tomorrow). The boycott was announced jointly by the Karachi Bar Association and the Sindh

By our correspondents
August 30, 2015
Karachi
Karachi’s lawyers boycotted courts and staged rallies on Saturday in protest against the murder of a former Karachi Bar Association office-bearer a day earlier and announced that they would again stage a strike on Monday (tomorrow).
The boycott was announced jointly by the Karachi Bar Association and the Sindh Bar Council against the fatal gun attack on former KBA joint secretary Advocate Amir Hyder Shah near the Civic Centre.
The lawyers affiliated with the KBA held a general body meeting wherein they condemned Shah’s murder and demanded the arrest of killers.
They also demanded that Rangers should provide protection to the lawyers who were facing threats.
The lawyers offered funeral prayer in absentia for Shah and then organised a protest rally on MA Jinnah Road, marching to the Chief Minister’s House.
KBA President Naim Qureshi, SBC member Salahuddin Ahmed and other lawyers demanded pointed out that Shah was the fourth lawyer who had been murdered this year.
They regretted that lawyers were being murdered despite Rangers and other law enforcement agencies’ ongoing operation against criminals.
Shah, 37, a lawyer at the Sindh High Court, had served as the joint secretary of the KBA in 2014.
He was on his way home from his office near Tariq Road, when three men attacked his vehicle, bearing registration number APR-402, as soon as it crossed the Hassan Square bridge on University road.
Shah suffered several bullet wounds. He was accompanied by his assistant Shahid Ali Chandio who remained unhurt in the attack.
SSP East Jawed Jiskani said Shah was fighting several cases related to land grabbing while some were of political nature in anti-terrorism courts. He had arrived in the city from Khairpur district. Police said a clear CCTV footage of the attack had been obtained. Whereas claims of an eye witness having confirmed one of the motorcycle’s registration number were also made; the certainty of it being a fake number plate was, however, not ruled out.

Lawyers meet DG Rangers
A six-member delegation of the Karachi Bar Council, headed by its president, Naeem Qureshi, called on Director General Sindh Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar at the headquarters of the paramilitary force. The delegation discussed security concerns regarding the investigations into the target killing of high court lawyer Ameer Haider Shah.
The DG Rangers assured the lawyers of full support, and said the killers would be brought to justice.
He added that in order to handle the threats being received by bar members, a special task force headed by a lieutenant colonel was being established.
The delegation showed their full confidence in the Rangers initiatives.

MWM slams murder
The murder of Advocate Ameer Haider is an attempt to sabotage the city’s newfound peace. The deceased was a competent and professional lawyer and his services will always be remembered.
This was stated by the deputy secretary-general of the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) in Karachi, Syed Raza Imam Naqvi, in a statement issued from the Wahdat House on Saturday.
He said the lawyer’s murder on one of the busiest roads in the city raised questions over the efficiency of law-enforcement agencies in Karachi. He said the Karachi operation can only be successful when action is taken against notorious terrorists and criminals.