"I tried to mediate on the directions of the chief minister but they [lawyers] thrashed me," he said
LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz Chohan said on Wednesday that lawyers fired shots and attempted to kidnap him when he tried to resolve the conflict between lawyers and doctors at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
"I tried to mediate on the directions of the chief minister but they [lawyers] thrashed me," he said. "They tried to kidnap me and even opened fire at me."
READ MORE: Angry mob of lawyers storm Punjab Institute of Cardiology
Chohan said that the government will register FIRs against all responsible for the violence and hand them exemplary punishments.
He said that after arriving at the hospital and had 10 lawyers arrested. The minister said that he had the lawyers arrested for their protection against police shelling.
"When I ran from the lawyers because they tried to kidnap me, I heard shots being fired," he said. "The blame for this violence goes to the lawyers. We will register FIRs against them."
Punjab Minister for Information Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan who arrived at the hospital was manhandled by the lawyers who tore at his clothes and hair. The provincial minister could be seen escorted away from the hospital.
A group of lawyers on Wednesday stormed the emergency ward of Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore, vandalised public property, set a police vehicle on fire and attacked provincial minister Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan.
Videos of the incident shared on Twitter showed police officials, clad in riot gear, were rendered helpless as a swarm of lawyers, outnumbering the law enforcement personnel, broke the entrance of the hospital.
There were reports of casualties at the emergency ward of the hospital as a result of the confusion and fear that spread inside the facility as the lawyers barged into the building. It was not clear why the group of lawyers stormed the cardiology hospital.