Lawyers rampage: No measures taken despite Special Branch warning

LAHORE: A timely action by police could have prevented loss of life and public property during the lawyers’ attack on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.

It was learnt that Special Branch of police and other agencies had already informed the government that the lawyers had decided to protest in the wake of a young doctor’s video going viral, but adequate steps were not taken except deployment of some police force. The police did not use force to stop lawyers’ forced entry into the hospital. Handling lawyers protest was the biggest task since the new IGP, Dr Shuaib Dastgir, and Lahore CCPO Zulfiqar Hameed took over, but the police cut a sorry figure.

Additional IG Inam Ghani told Jang that police were negotiating with the lawyers with a hope to resolve the issue peacefully, but when lawyers went berserk, the police did their job. Those responsible for violence would face action, he added. Talking to Jang, the city police spokesperson said it was wrong to say that police delayed their action. When the miscreants took law in their own hands, the police acted with full force with other law enforcement agencies and made many arrests.