Two men accused of murder were killed by a lone gunman on Saturday at the Sessions Court. Two others were injured.
CCTV footage shows a court official calling the case at 9:03am. Jamal Ali, Nisar Ahmed and Rizwan Ali, enter the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sadiq Masood Sabir. Their friend, Muhammad Arshad, is accompanying them. The three are accused of murdering the father of the complainant for pursuing a murder case.
The footage shows a man wearing black shalwar qamees following them into the courtroom. The courtroom is empty, except for two women litigants sitting on chairs. The judge is away (on a two-hour short leave.) The court staff and the prosecutors had gone into a smaller room. The man in the black shalwar qamees then opens fire.
Two of the accused fall to the ground, one runs towards the judge’s retiring room. The fourth man tries to hide behind a table.
The women flee.
One of the men hit by a bullet tries to enter the room where the court staff and lawyers are but they have closed it. The hitman turns his attention to the man who has taken refuge behind the table. The moment he gets up to see where the man with the gun is, he is shot.
The gunman flees.
The man who had taken refuge in the retiring room first climbed the judge’s table and then moved towards the bathroom, collapsing at the door.
By the time the police responded, lawyers, litigants, court staff from adjacent courts had sent the injured men to Mayo Hospital. The deceased were identified as Jamaat Ali and Nisar Ahmed.
Police said they would register an FIR after an application was submitted by the victim families.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial visited the Sessions Court after the incident. He said a ‘curfew’ would be imposed at the Sessions Court from Monday. People would not be allowed to enter the premises unless they had business there. The lawyers would be searched. He directed that no lawyers be allowed to park their vehicles on court premises. Justice Bandial has convened a meeting on June 17 of judges of Sessions Court, bar representatives, and police high ups to discuss security arrangements at the court.
This is not the first time security measures at the Sessions Court have proven inadequate. On May 28, 2011, two brothers accused of murder were killed in a courtroom. They were there for a pre-arrest bail hearing. The same morning, three men were shot dead on the first floor of the Gujrat sessions court after the hearing of a murder case against them. Both the assailants had fled. About a year ago, in July 2012, an under-trial prisoner was killed by another at the judicial lockup of the courts, who was later killed in a shootout with police.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2013.