ATC fixes four cases against Uzair Baloch for indictment on September 21

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday fixed four cases of murder, attempted murder, rioting and shoot-out with police against Uzair Baloch for indictment in a hearing to take place after two weeks.

The ATC-VII judge ordered the police to present the prosecution witnesses against the gangster in three more cases pertaining to similar felonies in the same hearing on September 21. Baloch, chief of the now-defunct Peoples Aman Committee, is facing around five dozen cases in different ATCs and sessions courts inside the Central Jail Karachi.

The Sindh Rangers had announced his arrest in a raid on the outskirts of the city in January 2016. Some unverified reports suggested that he was arrested earlier from Dubai with the help of the Interpol. Later, a joint investigation team was formed to interrogate him.

In April 2017, the army had taken him into custody over spying for Iranian intelligence agencies, and this April he was convicted of the charge and sentenced to prison for 12 years. During the hearing, Baloch had moved an application in the court through his counsel seeking facilities at the Mitha Ram Hostel, where he is being interned because of security concerns, in accordance with the jail manual.

He said he was being grilled inside his cell all the time and it had been a long time since he had been out in the sun. Entertaining his request, the judge ordered the jail authorities to ensure he is treated according to the rules. The court also approved his request to meet his family in the courtroom.

‘Persecution’

Baloch had told an ATC on Saturday that he had suffered political victimisation for his affiliation with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and that efforts were made to pressurise him into joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“I am being persecuted for belonging to the PPP. If today I give up and join the PTI, the charges against me will be dropped,” he told the ATC-VIII judge during a hearing. He was produced before the court at the judicial complex inside the central jail from the Mitha Ram Hostel amid tight security. The Sindh Home Department had in June transferred him from the prison to the hostel, which the Rangers use as a base.

Co-accused

The ATC-XVI judge on Saturday gave last chance to alleged gangster Sher Muhammad Sheikh, a co-accused with Baloch in the kidnapping and murder case of two Rangers intelligence personnel, to engage his counsel.

Muneer Ahmed Bhutto and Aijaz Ahmed Baloch, both belonging to the intelligence wing of the paramilitary force were kidnapped from Lyari and their tortured bodies were later found in the Mewa Shah graveyard in March 2013.

According to a joint investigation team report, they were abducted by Sheikh, who had informed Baloch that they were spying on him. After confirming the lead, Baloch had allegedly asked Sheikh to kill them so that he could escape the blame.