Uzair Baloch acquitted in three more cases for want of evidence

A sessions court has acquitted Uzair Baloch, chief of the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee (PAC), in as many as three 11-year-old cases pertaining to possession of explosives for lack of evidence.

The alleged Lyari gangster was charged in the three cases based on confessions made by three accused, who were arrested after allegedly being found in possession of illegal arms and explosives in 2012. They purportedly admitted to supplying arms and explosives to Baloch and another gang war commander, Noor Muhammad, alias Baba Ladla.

The additional district and sessions judge-VI (West), who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his order after recording evidence and final arguments from both the defence prosecution sides.

He ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against Baloch.

According to the prosecution, the erstwhile Crime Investigation Department (CID) had arrested three accused — Abdul Ghaffar Bugti, Shamsuddin Bugti and Saifal Bugti — in May 2012 and claimed to have recovered illicit arms as well as three rocket-propelled missiles from their possession. Subsequently, three separate cases were lodged against them.

As per a supplementary charge sheet filed against Uzair Baloch, the accused in their confessional statements before a judicial magistrate admitted to bringing explosives, arms and ammunition from Balochistan and supplying these to the PAC chief and Baba Ladla. The investigation officer invoked Section 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Baloch and Ladla.

He said that during interrogation at the Mitha Ram Hostel, Baloch confessed to his involvement in the crime. Three cases were lodged under sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act.

Baloch has been kept at the Mitha Ram Hostel since his conviction by a military court in April 2020 in an espionage case. The detention facility is being maintained by the Sindh Rangers.

The alleged warlord had been booked in dozens of cases pertaining to murder, kidnapping, encounter with police during the 2012 operation in Lyari, grenade attacks on law enforcement personnel, and running an extortion racket.

As of now, he has been acquitted in more than two dozen cases, either due to insufficient evidence or courts giving him the benefit of reasonable doubt.

In April 2020, Uzair Baloch was awarded a 12-year prison term by a military court on charges of espionage for foreign intelligence agencies.