Lawyers observe strike against Judicial Complex attack today

PESHAWAR: Lawyers across the country have boycotted the courts Tuesday in order to protest the attack on the Judicial Complex in Peshawar on Monday, Geo News reported.

A case has been registered on the complaint of Sub-inspector Zafar Ali against unknown miscreants for carrying out the attack on the heavily guarded area of the city.

Lawyers’ associations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab have called to boycott the courts’ proceedings today against the criminal act.

Four persons were killed while 47 others, including eight lawyers and six policemen, sustained injuries when two suicide bombers attacked the Judicial Complex on Monday.

The injured also included a young woman lawyer, Sana, and another woman, Meher Bibi. Additional District and Sessions Judge Kulsoom Azam narrowly escaped the attack as the entire episode took place outside her courtroom.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Imtiaz Altaf said the police had collected the CCTV footage of the incident that showed that the two bombers gained entry to the Judicial Complex from the Nishtar Hall side after they shot and injured a police sub-inspector and two constables on duty. “One of the bombers detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering the Judicial Complex while the second hurled a hand-grenade and opened fire at the policemen before he was shot dead,” the CCPO said.

The suicide jacket of the second bomber did not go off and was defused by the bomb disposal unit experts after the area was cleared. “The bombers were carrying six kilograms each of explosives in their jackets,” said an official of the bomb disposal unit.

The Khyber Road was blocked after the security personnel cordoned off the Judicial Complex to carry out a search operation. Three of those killed in the blast included policeman Said Jalal, Abdul Majid, a clerk, and shopkeeper Muhammad Ashfaq. The fourth slain man remained unidentified.

According to an official of the Lady Reading Hospital four dead and 47 injured were brought to the hospital. Five staff members of the court of Kulsoom Azam were also among those injured. The woman judge wasn’t harmed as she had left for the retiring room moments before the attack was carried out, a source said.

The Judicial Complex is located in the high security Peshawar Cantonment on the Khyber Road. It is surrounded by Central Prison Peshawar, Peshawar High Court, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines, Civil Secretariat, Pearl Continental Hotel and residences of the Corps Commander Peshawar and Commandant Frontier Constabulary.

On November 19, 2009, a blast occurred near the main entrance of the Judicial Complex that killed at least 10 people and left over 50 others injured. An attack was carried out on the offices of the political agent of Khyber Agency in Peshawar Cantonment area last month.

Many are questioning the security measures put in place in and around Peshawar city and asking how the bombers are managing to enter the city and Cantonment areas with explosives fastened around their bodies to successfully target the well-guarded offices.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) condemned the suicide attack on the Peshawar Judicial Complex. PBC Vice Chairman Syed Qalb-i-Hassan, in a statement, said that the terrorist attacks near and around court premises were an attempt to disrupt the process of dispensation of justice, particularly against criminals and terrorists, which must be tackled with iron hands.

He urged the government to take effective steps and stern action against the culprits. He also emphasised on the need of evolving a practical strategy and plan for improving law and order situation to ensure safety of the people. He also announced that lawyers throughout the country would observe complete strike and boycott courts today.