KARACHI: A district and sessions court in Karachi on Tuesday acquitted notorious Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch in a kidnapping and murder case for want of evidence.
Baloch, claimed leader of the defunct militant group Peoples Aman Committee (PAC), rose to prominence in 2012 after a wave of deadly violence in Lyari.
Last week, he was acquitted in four separate cases, including two pertaining to armed attacks on police officials.
During the hearing, the defence said that no eyewitness appeared to testify against Baloch, while the prosecution was silent over the culprits involved in the murder.
“The police found the dead body and didn’t identify the slain person,” the counsel said.
“The murder took place in Kalari village on March 13, 2013, while the case was registered on March 17,” the counsel for Baloch said. “Police nominated my client in the case on political grounds, who didn’t commit it.”
“My client was nominated in the case over the statement of a police official, who was not present at the crime scene,” lawyer further said.
The witness policeman recorded his statement to the investigation officer but failed to appear before the court as a witness, the said.
“Deceased Noshad was abducted from Chakiwara area and was kept at a cell where Uzair Baloch and other accused were present,” according to the prosecution’s charge sheet.
“Uzair Baloch ordered his men for killing the victim,” prosecution stated.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) had earlier accepted an application moved by the accused seeking his acquittal in the two other cases related to attempt to murder and police encounter registered at Kalakot and Chakiwara police stations.
The court exonerated him from all charges in these two cases after the prosecution side failed to produce any evidence against him.
Uzair has been accused of committing 198 murders during the Lyari gang war and was arrested by the Rangers on January 30, 2016.
