Ex-governor’s brother remanded in bounced cheque case

A judicial magistrate on Saturday remanded a younger brother of former Sindh governor Ishrat-ul-Ibad in police custody for two days over a bounced cheque case.

City Courts police presented Amir-ul-Ibad before the District South judicial magistrate, stating that he was arrested from his residence in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on a complaint filed by advocate Tariq Khan Niazi.

According to Niazi, he acted as a solicitor in a property matter pertaining to Ibad’s family and upon the sale of it Amir gave him a cheque of Rs4 million, which was supposed to be distributed among other stakeholders, but the cheque bounced.

The complainant said that Amir had been facing a similar case and was on bail in it. He added that the cheque was made in his name; therefore, he lodged a case with the police to prevent the “fraudulent” attempt.

Amir told the court that he gave Niazi the cheque under duress although he had nothing to do with the property since it belonged to Ibad’s family. His wife and son were also present in the courtroom. They alleged that police would harm Amir during custody.

Amir’s lawyer argued that a solicitor could not lodge a case against a party in a matter and opposed the police request for remand. He said that there was no need for remand in this case.

The court granted police the remand of Amir until May 20 and sought a progress report from the investigation officer at the next hearing.