Uzair Baloch acquitted in two more criminal cases

An anti-terrorism court on Saturday acquitted alleged Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch in two more cases pertaining to armed assaults on police and terrorism.

The chief of the proscribed Peoples Amn Committee was acquitted of the charges of attacking law enforcers with an intention to kill them during operations against criminals in the Lyari area in 2012.

The ATC-VII judge announced his verdict after recording evidence and final arguments from both defence and prosecution sides. The trial was held in the judicial complex inside the central prison. Baloch was produced from Mitharam Hostel-turned sub-jail.

The Lyari warlord had been named in dozens of cases pertaining to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, encounters with law enforcers. He has thus far been acquitted in over 20 cases either due to a lack of evidence or benefit of doubt. In April 2020, a military court had sentenced Baloch to 12 years in jail for working for an international spy agency.

The two criminal cases in question were registered at the Napier and Kharadar police stations.

The prosecution stated that Uzair Baloch along with co-accused Shahid alias MCB and others engaged in a shootout with the police with intention to kill them after they conducted a raid for their arrest within the jurisdiction of the Napier police station on May 1, 2012.

The prosecutor alleged that they also resorted to arson and violence, spreading a sense of fear among the residents of the area. The court exonerated both Uzair and co-accused Muhammad Shahid from the charges.

About the case lodged by the Kharadar police, the state prosecutor said personnel of the law enforcement agencies conducted a raid to arrest the outlaws involved in the gang warfare in Lyari when Baloch along with his aides opened fire on them.

During the trial, defence counsel Abid Zaman pointed out what he said “glaring contradictions in the evidence” placed on record by the prosecution, pleading that his client be acquitted in these cases.