Zakir Dada’s bail plea rejected in Arshad Pappu murder case

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Zakir Dada, a man nominated as co-accused in the case of murder of Lyari gangster Arshad Pappu and two others. Earlier, the court heard the arguments of Special Public Prosecutor Sajid Mehboob, who contended that Dada himself had confessed to his involvement in the triple murder.

Key accused Uzair Baloch and other detained co-accused have also confessed to killing Arshad Pappu, his brother Arafat and Pappu’s friend, Sher Khan, in 2013. They also admitted disrespecting and burning the bodies and playing football with the head of Pappu.

The court considering the arguments rejected the bail plea of Dada. A leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and MNA from Lyari, Shahjahan Baloch, is also being tried for the triple murder.

Zubair Baloch, younger brother of Uzair Baloch, is also being tried in this case. Uzair was arrested in January 2016. However, he was taken into custody by the army in April 2017 under the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act. He was alleged to have shared some secret information with some foreign intelligence agencies.

Pappu was murdered in March 2013 allegedly by Uzair Baloch along with his accomplices to avenge the killing of his father. It is believed Uzair Baloch had help from local police officials — Inspector Chand Khan Niazi, SHOs Yousuf Baloch and Javed Baloch — who are in jail. They had abducted Pappu from DHA in March 2013 and then handed him over to his rival group headed by Uzair Baloch.