LAHORE: The police arrested some lawyers on Wednesday after a clash outside the Lahore High Court (LHC), when the protesting lawyers attempted to enter the court premises.
A rally, organised by lawyers from Aiwan-e-Adl to the LHC premises, was taken out to protest against shifting of civil courts to Model Town Kutchehri, and registration of cases on terrorism charges against some lawyers. Clashes took place at GPO Chowk on The Mall. Lawyers erected barriers outside the GPO Chowk and LHC and pelted law-enforcement personnel with stones. In response, the police resorted to baton-charge, tear-gas, water cannons, and shelling to quell the unrest and disperse the protesting crowd.
The situation aggravated when Model Town SP Akhlaq Tarar and Anarkali SHO suffered injuries amidst the altercation. A police spokesperson said no one would be allowed to take the law into their hands. The skirmish caused disruption to traffic on The Mall road and GPO Chowk.
The lawyers later announced that they would hold protest dem
onstrations all over the province if their demands remained unmet.
The SSP operations said police resorted to shelling after lawyers pelted officials with stone without provocation.