Drug mafia operative sentenced to 16 years in jail

An anti-terrorism court has awarded a collective sentence of 16 years’ imprisonment to a man in cases pertaining to an encounter with police and possession of illicit arms.

Mir Muhammad Bux Dashti was found guilty of engaging in a shootout with police and causing terrorism in the Old Golimar area in August 2023.

The ATC-XV judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, observed that the prosecution succeeded in proving the charges against the accused.

He awarded eleven-year imprisonment to the convict for the encounter with the police and causing terrorism. The convict was handed down five more years of imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed weapon.

He was ordered to pay Rs150,000 in fine or undergo additional nine-month imprisonment.

The man was remanded back to the prison to serve out the sentences that shall run concurrently.

The judge kept the case against absconding accused Ali alias Piru, Riasat Jadgal, Noman Sindhi, and Jahangir on dormant file.

He observed that the crime of snatching mobile phones, motorcycles, and other valuable articles at gunpoint was on the rise day by day. Recently, more than 44 persons, including young boys, men and women, had been murdered during snatching bids, he said, adding that police personnel had also lost their loved ones in shootouts with criminals.

“In such circumstances of law and order situation, if the criminals are not punished in such type of crimes cases, the offences of police encounter shall increase in future,” the judge noted.

According to state prosecutor Ghulam Abbas Dalwani, on August 5, 2023, a police party on patrol received spy information that two drug dealer and gang war groups -- Riasat Jadgal and Mir Mohammad Bux Dashti -- were engaged in a fierce gun battle near Orangi Nala, Old Golimar, causing fear in the area.

The police rushed to the spot where intense firing between the two groups was ongoing, he said, adding that the cops tried to control the law and order situation, but the armed men in furtherance of their common intention fired shots at the police.

The prosecutor said that police reinforcements were called in and in the subsequent shootout two men -- Kabir and Aqeel -- were shot dead, while one, identified as Mir Muhammad Bux Dashti -- was arrested and the rest managed to flee the scene taking advantage of narrow streets.

He said a 9mm pistol and bullets were seized from the detained accused.

Dalwani argued that statements of all prosecution witnesses were in consistency with each other and that the FSL report brought on record was also positive, requesting the judge to punish the accused as per the law.

However, the defence counsel contended that his client was innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case with the weapon foisted upon him.

Two separate cases were lodged at the Pak Colony police stations under 324 (attempted murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 23(1)(a) of the Sindh Arms Act, 2023 read with Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.