KARACHI: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against several lawyers for allegedly assaulting a station house officer (SHO) after a case was registered against them and others for roughing up YouTuber Rajab Butt during a court appearance in Karachi, it emerged on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it emerged that a case was registered against more than a dozen lawyers after Butt was physically assaulted during a court appearance in Karachi on Monday. The FIR nominated Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah Chandio and “another 15-20 lawyers”.

Subsequently, lawyers stormed the City Courts police station demanding a case against the YouTuber and others. They also staged a protest on M.A. Jinnah Road outside the City Courts against the SHO of the City Courts police station for allegedly failing to register their FIR.

The fresh FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn and which emerged on Wednesday, was registered on the complaint of City Court SHO Jahangir Bhutto.

The FIR was registered under sections 337-A (punishment of shajjah), Section 504 (intentional insult), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 147 (punishment for rioting), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of their duty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The complainant said that on December 30 (Tuesday), he received a call while out patrolling that “around 40-50 lawyers“ led by Abdul Fatah Chandio, Advocate Abdul Wahab Rajper, and Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi had forced their way into the Risala police station, which had been temporarily set up at the City Courts police station.

He alleged that they were creating a ruckus and demanding that a FIR be registered against Butt and his lawyer.

“When I reached the police station around 2pm, the lawyers demanded to know why I had allowed a FIR to be registered against them,“ Bhutto said.

“They asked me to register a FIR against Butt and his lawyer,” he added.

“I tried to make them understand that a case had already been registered [..] upon hearing this, they started verbally abusing me and then proceeded to kick and punch me,“ he recalled.

He said that the lawyers left after the police staff came to his rescue. “However, they started chanting slogans and gave me death threats as they marched out of the station,” he said.

The FIR nominated three people — Chandio, Rajper, and Solangi, along with 40-50 others, who were unnamed.

It should be mentioned that Solangi was named in the case registered on the complaint of Butt’s lawyer. He is also the complainant in the case registered against Butt for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, for which the YouTuber had appeared in court on Monday.

Bhutto said that the accused had “stopped me from performing my duty, gave me death threats, assaulted me and verbally abused me“.

Butt’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, had registered a case against Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah and “another 15-20 lawyers” under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 337-A (Punishment of shajjah) of the PPC.

Ashfaq stated in the FIR that his client had arrived at City Courts at 9am to seek bail, but when he reached the inner premises near the West building, lawyers Solangi and Fatah, along with 15-20 other lawyers, attacked and started beating the YouTuber, causing him injuries. “The attackers assaulted me as well and other lawyers from my office,” he added.

He alleged that during the attack, Butt was holding a bag containing Rs300,000, which was snatched from him. He said that Solangi later returned the bag, but the cash was missing.

Advocate Solangi told Dawn on Monday that after obtaining pre-arrest bail on December 20, the YouTuber had uploaded a vlog in which he allegedly used inappropriate language against lawyers in Karachi as well as against him. He claimed Butt was later taken to the Karachi Bar Association committee room after the scuffle, where the YouTuber apologised to the lawyers.