Police arrest 29 more lawyers over PIC attack

LAHORE: The Investigation Wing of the Lahore Police arrested 29 more lawyers involved in the PIC attack and shifted them to different police stations on Friday.

Overall, 83 lawyers have been arrested out of which 46 were presented before an anti-terrorism court and sent on judicial remand on Thursday. The police also raided the house of Barrister Hassan Niazi, nephew of Prime Minister Imran Khan, but failed to arrest him. The DIG Investigations said the police have been trying to arrest Niazi by using latest technology. The CCTV footages show that Niazi was involved in the attack on the PIC. He kept on inciting other lawyers for violence and setting ablaze a police van. His videos were posted on the social media. He has, however, regretted the shameful act.

The investigators reviewed a footage in which lawyers could be seen harassing medical students riding a bus. They stopped the bus and hurled threats to the students.

Meanwhile, the Investigation Wing continued a crackdown on Thursday night and Friday after identifying lawyers through CCTV footages. According to a police report, eight lawyers were arrested by Mozang Police, three by Nawankot, one by Shalimar, nine by Manga Mundi and 30 by Hudiara Police. Special teams arrested 10 lawyers from North Cantt and South Cantt police limits. Police sources said eight lawyers were arrested from Kahna, four from Gulberg, one from Model Town, five from Faisal Town and one from Naseerabad police limits.

Further lists of accused lawyers have been provided to police investigators for arrests. Senior lawyers including Secretary Lahore Bar Malik Adeel Ehsan, former vice president of Lahore Bar Iftikhar Bhatti were included. Naeem Qamar, Syed Kashif Sultan, J Khan Tariq, Iqra, Aqsa and Danial were among the accused.

Two FIRs were registered against lawyers at the Shadman Police Station. As many as 15 lawyers were nominated while others were identified through CCTV footages. The Punjab Safe Cities Authority provided all videos of the PIC attack to the police and law-enforcement agencies. According to details, 20 hours videos of different location of the PIC attack were provided to the police. The videos given by the PSCA will be helpful to the law-enforcement agencies in investigations.