KP lawyers boycott courts to protest Sahiwal killings

PESHAWAR: The legal fraternity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday observed a strike to protest the killing of four people, including three members of a family in Sahiwal by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

The lawyer community boycotted courts across the province on the call of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council. Like other districts, the lawyer community in Peshawar also stayed away from courts, including the Peshawar High Court and district courts.

PHC Bar Association president Syed Abdul Fayyaz, general secretary Yasir Khattak and senior lawyers, including Esaac Ali Qazi, Aminur Rehman Yousafzai, Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah, Muhammad Ayaz Khan and Babar Yousafzai strongly condemned the brutal killings of the citizens by the CTD officials.

The senior lawyers demanded a judicial inquiry into the brutal killing of citizens in the broad daylight. They urged the government to bring the culprits to justice without any delay to stop such extra-judicial killings by the law enforcers in future.

Hundreds of litigants suffered due to the lawyers strike and they had to go back as the cases were adjourned due to the courts' boycott. Four people including three members of a family were killed in an alleged encounter in Sahiwal recently.

The CTD personnel said they had killed a local commander of militant organisation Daesh and three others in the operation. However, eyewitnesses and three children, whose parents were killed, disputed the claim.