No-show of witnesses in Arshad Pappu murder case irks judge

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday expressed displeasure over the failure of the police to produce any witness against Lyari-based gangster Uzair Baloch in the case of the murder of his rival gangster Arshad Pappu.

The ATC-VIII judge ordered the investigating officer of the case to ensure the presence of witnesses against the accused on the next hearing that would take place on September 28.

The court, which is conducting the trial inside the Central Jail Karachi, had framed charges against Baloch, former Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Shahjahan Baloch and three others last month.

Pappu had been killed along with his brother Arafat and an aide Jumma Shera by Baloch’s gang, known as the Peoples Aman Committee, in Lyari and their bodies were desecrated.

Some of the nominated suspects like Noor Muhammad, alias Baba Ladla, have already died in encounters with law enforcement agencies or during shoot-outs with rival gangs, while some witnesses, including policemen, have lost their lives in targeted attacks.

Brief facts of case

On March 16, 2013, Pappu and two others were picked up by the police from their hideout in the upmarket DHA neighbourhood and later handed over to the Aman Committee, whose members killed them.

Pappu himself had been facing several cases of felonies like murders, kidnappings and drug peddling, but was never convicted. A year before his death, he was acquitted of the murder of Baloch’s father Faiz Muhammad, alias Mama Faizu.

Baloch is facing over five dozen cases related to terrorism. After his arrest, the army had taken him into custody in April 2017 on charges of espionage and leaking sensitive security information to foreign intelligence agencies. He was handed back to the home authorities recently.