Waseem Beater cleared of extortion charges

Karachi
An anti-terrorism court acquitted alleged notorious extortionist Waseem Beater on Saturday after no proof could be presented to substantiate the charges against him.
He had been charged with collecting huge sums of extortion money from police officers, but no proof could be presented in court to prove his guilt. Consequently, he was acquitted of the charges on benefit of doubt.
In October last year, an anti-terrorism court headed by Farman Ali Kalasro had dismissed the bail application of Waseem Beater who had been arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency from Karachi airport September 5, 2014.
A case for extortion against him was registered at the Napier police station. Beater had alleged that the police tortured him while he was in custody. The police denied the allegation and claimed that the suspect had attacked a shop with a hand grenade in Napier last year.
The court had ordered a medical examination for Beater to ascertain the authenticity of his charges of torture and had also directed the investigators to produce him before a joint investigation team.
Later, Beater’s lawyers told the media that a report was filed in the Sindh High Court stating that the accused had been acquitted in four cases because of lack of evidence against him. They had claimed that he had been arrested in a “worthless” case.
The police claimed that Beater took the reigns as a gambling lord in Karachi after the death of Shoaib Khan. They said he, in collaboration with Ejaz Memon, had initiated their illegal business from Ghas Mandi and both were now the kingpins of the gambling world in the city and also rural Sindh.
Originally a policeman, Beater rose from the rank of a constable to a sub-inspector after receiving out-of-turn promotion. He was said to have been extremely influential in the force and his name was also mentioned before the Supreme Court while hearing the Karachi suo moto case.