KARACHI (MNN); A first information report (FIR) has been registered against several lawyers for allegedly assaulting a station house officer (SHO) at the City Courts police station, following a case lodged against them over the alleged manhandling of YouTuber Rajab Butt during a court appearance in Karachi, it emerged on Wednesday.
Earlier, a case had been registered against more than a dozen lawyers after Rajab Butt was allegedly beaten during his appearance at the City Courts on Monday. The FIR named Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah Chandio and another 15 to 20 lawyers.
Following the registration of that case, a group of lawyers reportedly stormed the City Courts police station, demanding the registration of an FIR against the YouTuber and others. They also staged a protest on M.A. Jinnah Road outside the City Courts, accusing the SHO of failing to register their complaint.
The latest FIR was registered on Wednesday on the complaint of City Courts SHO Jahangir Bhutto. The case includes charges under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including causing injury, intentional insult, criminal intimidation, obstructing a public servant, rioting, unlawful assembly and assault on a public servant in the discharge of official duties.
According to the complainant, on December 30 he received information while on patrol that around 40 to 50 lawyers, led by Abdul Fatah Chandio, Advocate Abdul Wahab Rajper and Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi, had forcibly entered the Risala police station temporarily set up within the City Courts premises. He alleged that the lawyers created a disturbance and demanded the registration of a case against Rajab Butt and his lawyer.
The SHO stated that when he reached the police station around 2pm, the lawyers questioned why an FIR had been registered against them and insisted that a case be lodged against the YouTuber and his counsel. He said he tried to explain that a case had already been registered, after which the lawyers allegedly began verbally abusing him and then physically assaulted him.
He added that police staff intervened and rescued him, following which the lawyers left the station while chanting slogans and issuing death threats. The FIR named Chandio, Rajper and Solangi along with 40 to 50 unidentified individuals.
It may be noted that Advocate Solangi was also named in the case registered on the complaint of Butt’s lawyer. Solangi is further the complainant in a separate case against Rajab Butt for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, in which the YouTuber had appeared in court on Monday.
Meanwhile, Butt’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, had earlier registered an FIR against Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah and 15 to 20 other lawyers under charges of rioting, armed rioting, theft after preparation to cause harm, criminal intimidation and causing injury. He stated that his client arrived at City Courts around 9am to seek bail when the lawyers attacked and beat him, causing injuries to both Butt and members of his legal team.
Ashfaq also alleged that during the assault, a bag containing Rs300,000 was snatched from Butt. He claimed the bag was later returned by Solangi, but the cash was missing.
Advocate Solangi, however, told reporters that after obtaining pre-arrest bail on December 20, Rajab Butt had uploaded a vlog in which he allegedly used inappropriate language against Karachi lawyers and himself. He said that following the altercation, Butt was taken to the Karachi Bar Association committee room, where he apologised to the lawyers.
