Gangster arrested for murdering Urdu-speakers, Kutchhis for Uzair Baloch

Police have arrested a gangster who has confessed to killing members of the Urdu-speaking and Kutchhi communities for Lyari gang war kingpin Uzair Jan Baloch, it was learnt on Tuesday.

A team comprising Special Investigation Unit and Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) officials carried out a raid on Tuesday and arrested a man believed to be involved in target killings, kidnappings for ransom and extortion.

The detainee later identified himself to the police officials as Najeeb, alias Bao, claiming that he worked for Uzair Baloch’s Jasim Golden group on daily wages.  

From buses to graves

Sharing Najeeb’s confessional statement with The News, CIA Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Saqib Ismail Memon said the detainee told his interrogators that he and his accomplices forced Urdu-speakers off buses after identifying them by their identity cards.

DIGP Memon said the gangsters then took the Urdu-speakers to the offices of the Peoples Aman Committee (PAC) to produce them before Uzair Baloch, adding that the abducted men were subjected to brutal torture before they were shot dead.

The officer said the detainee maintained that he and his accomplices gunned down many Urdu-speakers in front of Uzair Baloch and his right-hand man Taj Muhammad, alias Ustad Taju.  

Keamari, 2011

DIGP Memon said the detainee claimed in his confessional statement that in 2011 he and his accomplices had forced seven Urdu-speakers off buses in Keamari and taken them away with them. The gangsters later killed the abductees and dumped their dead bodies into the Lyari River, he added.

The 2012 attack

The officer said the detainee also claimed that he was part of the team that had attacked a Kutchhi-dominated locality in 2012, adding that the group included Noor Muhammad, alias Baba Ladla, Taj Muhammad and Mullah Nisar.

DIGP Memon said Faisal Pathan, Sheeraz Comrade, Shakeel Badshah and other heavyweight gangsters associated with Uzair Baloch also took part in the attack, adding that six Kutchhis were killed and five others injured as a result.

Memon said the gangsters had used M16 rifles, rocket launchers, hand grenades, Awan bombs and Kalashnikovs in their attack on the members of the Kutchhi community.

PAC torture cell

The officer said the gangsters had turned a PAC office in Ali Mohammad Mohalla into a torture cell, where they brought a large number of Urdu-speakers and Kutchhis.

He said the gangsters sometimes released the abductees after subjecting them to brutal torture, while at other times they brought the kidnapped men from the Urdu-speaking and Kutchhi communities to Uzair Baloch and then killed them.

‘Picketing’ for Rs500

DIGP Memon said the detainee and his accomplices engaged in “picketing” – or patrolling as lookouts – in Lyari, adding that they informed their fellow gang members by wireless when police or Rangers were in town and that each member of the lookout team was paid Rs500 a day.  

Eid gambling dens

The officer said the detainee and his accomplices were paid Rs400 a day for running Jasim Golden’s gambling dens during the three days each of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Azha.

Memon said the police were still interrogating the detainee, adding that the media would be informed of further developments once the police investigation reached its conclusion.