LARKANA: In protest against an attack on the chamber of senior lawyer and High Court Bar Association Larkana general secretary Shamsuddin Abbasi here on Wednesday, lawyers boycotted court proceedings on Thursday at the Larkana circuit of the Sindh High Court and lower courts.

Amid suspension of courtproceedings, members of the high court and district bar associations held a joint general body meeting which condemned the cowardly attack on the office of Mr Abbasi.

The attackers broke into the lawyer`s office, manhandled the assistant of Mr Abbasi, a lawyer of the Supreme Court, and also ransacked the office while issuing death threats to the lawyer.

Those who spoke at the meeting included HighCourt Bar Association president Ghulam Dastgir Shahani, District Bar Association president Inayatullah Morio and general secretary Rashid Mustafa Solangi, Ali Nawaz Ghanghro, Gulb Rai, Babu Sarfraz Khan Jatoi and Athar Abbasi Solangi.

They said the threats to Mr Abbasi was not an isolated incident as some other advocates, Qadir Bakhsh Bhatti and Irshad Ali Chandio, had also received death threats.

Qadir Bakhsh Bhatti was intercepted and picked on March 31 allegedly by the DSP of Mirokhan while he was on his way to Larkana from Mirokhan. He was released early in the morning next day.

The speakers passed a resolution condemning high-handedness on the part of police and demanded action against the DSP. In another incident, some unknown persons had thrown a letter and live bul-lets in the house of a lawyer, Irshad Ahmed Chandio, threatening him of dire consequences.

The joint meeting called for immediate arrest of the culprits and security to the lawyers` fraternity. It was also resolved in the meeting that the strike would continue till arrest of the culprits in all the incidents and removal of the DSP of Mirokhan.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Abbas said it was also decided to file a petition in the high court against the attack on his office.

He said the work remained suspended in Larl(ana, Hyderabad and Sukkur high courts on the call of the Sindh Bar Council. However, no FIR was registered yet, said Shamsudin Abbasi.

Copies of the resolution were sent to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, vice chairmen of the Pakistan and Sindh bar councils and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.