The Orissa High Court Employees’ Association has demanded arrest of two lawyers for allegedly abusing and assaulting five staff members.

The association declared a cease work for it on Thursday but called it off within less than an hour. “We suspended our cease work after the chief justice assured us of considering our demand within seven days,” association president Jayanta Kumar Sen said. “We will be forced to resume the cease work if the two lawyers are not arrested.”

The demand comes at a time when the High Court Bar Association has been on cease work for arrest of the police personnel involved in the alleged assault on a member. Besides, the lawyers kept all government offices situated near Orissa High Court out of bounds for the third consecutive day by continuing to lock them up. The employee body’s demand relates to an incident that occurred on Tuesday when the lawyers were putting blockades on all points leading to the high court and surrounding area.

“Around 10.30am, five employees, including a section officer, an assistant section officer, two drivers and one peon, wanted to enter the court premises. They were abused in the most obscene language and assaulted with blows and kicks by two lawyers,” Sen said. “We had been on an undeclared cease work from that moment and submitted a complaint to the registry to forward it to Lalbag police station for registering an FIR. As the judges’ committee refused to forward the complaint, it was decided at a general body meeting on Wednesday not to go for compromise or discussion with the bar association.”

“It is resolved unanimously to continue the strike officially till the assaulting advocates — Suresh Kumar Jena and Ranjan Kumar Nayak — are arrested,” said the association’s resolution.

Accordingly, more than 1,300 employees were on cease work on Thursday till it was “suspended” later.

The cease work by the bar association for arrest of the cops completed 30 days on Thursday. A general body meeting is scheduled to decide its future course of action on Friday.

The bar association has been on indefinite cease work since the day following the “physical abuse and assault” on a member lawyer near the fish market at Nuabazar on August 28.

The stalemate has continued as the lawyers are not satisfied with the action taken against the erring policemen.

On August 30, the Cuttack deputy commissioner of police suspended havildar Prasanna Kumar Behera, constable Dillip Kumar Samal and Odisha Armed Police Force officer Udaya Kumar Bhuyan “for misconduct”, and departmental action was initiated against home guard Kishore Jena.

On September 25, the crime branch arrested Jena and another civilian, Dilip Singh, as the main culprit in connection with the incident.