Samastipur, April 24: Lawyers affiliated to the district Bar association are on an indefinite strike for the past five days against the district administration’s decision to lodge FIRs against 11 of their peers.

The advocates have demanded the transfer of district magistrate (DM) Kundan Kumar and deputy development commissioner (DDC) Dipak Anand, besides withdrawal of a case lodged against 11 lawyers and some unknown persons. The Bar association members said they would continue the agitation till the DM and the DDC were transferred. Else, the lawyers threatened to stage a protest during the chief minister’s Seva Yatra in the district in the first week of May.

The Bar members had blocked Samastipur-Darbhanga road for four hours on April 20 in protest against the arrest of an advocate, Anil Kumar Singh. He had allegedly taken Rs 30 as bribe from Jarina Khatun, a widow, for writing an application to include her name in the below poverty line (BPL) list.

The application was submitted to the DM’s janata darbar that was conducted by the DDC on his behalf. Khatun lodged an FIR against Singh following which he was arrested on April 19. The lawyers staged a roadblock to protest the arrest on April 20. On April 22, the administration lodged two FIRs with Town police station, one against 11 advocates and another against unknown persons.

Anil Kumar Singh said: “Khatun had asked me to write an application for inclusion of her name in a list of BPL families. She willingly gave me Rs 30 and I accepted it considering that she was poor. I usually take Rs 100 to write an application.”