Jhelum (Pakistan), May 5 (Reuters): Thousands of supporters cheered on Pakistan’s suspended top judge today as he drove to Lahore to gather support for his fight against President Pervez Musharraf’s attempt to sack him.

Police rounded up hundreds of Opposition activists and ransacked stalls set up on the roadside to try to undermine the visit by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to the country’s most politically influential city and the capital of Punjab province. Musharraf’s move to sack Chaudhry on March 9 is seen by the legal community and Opposition groups as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

Flag-waving activists from opposition parties chanted: “Go, Musharraf, Go” as Chaudhry left his home in Islamabad for his journey on the historic Grand Trunk Road.

Crowd swelled as Chaudhry’s convoy headed towards Lahore. Thousands of people shouting “we are with the chief justice” packed the roadsides and greeted him with drums and fireworks.

“This injustice is not just to the chief justice but to the whole nation,” Raja Liaquat, a 64-year-old landlord, said in the city of Jhelum — roughly half way between Islamabad and Lahore.