ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the capital on Thursday sent four arrested lawyers to jail on judicial remand on charges of storming the building of Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier this week.
Police produced the accused nominated in the first information report (FIR) — Zafar Ali Waraich, Naveed Malik, Sheikh Shoaib and Nazia Bibi — before the court.
Scores of lawyers protesting against the demolition of their chambers by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) during an anti-encroachment operation wreaked havoc on the high court’s building on Monday.
Late on Sunday night, an enforcement team as part of the body’s anti-encroachment drive had destroyed several lawyers’ chambers built on the premises of the District and Session Court in F-8 Markaz and retrieved state-owned land.
The move came days after the Islamabad administration on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan prepared a list of 80 people allegedly involved in land grabbing activities.
The clearance operation against the encroachments outraged the legal community who barged into the Chief Justice Block (CJB) of the court and broke windows.
They also chanted slogans against IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah outside his chamber, leaving him trapped inside. Reports suggest Justice Minallah was inside his chamber at the time.
Officials of the Special Security Unit (SSU) were not present when the lawyers entered the block and arrived much later.
