ATC grants Rangers 90-day custody of Uzair Baloch

KARACHI: Uzair Jan Baloch the notorious Lyari gang-war leader was handed over to the Sindh Rangers for 90-days on Saturday after he was arrested trying to enter the city of Karachi late on Friday night by Rangers personnel.

A Rangers spokesman claimed on Saturday that Baloch was arrested on the outskirts of the city while attempting to enter the port city.

Uzair had earlier been arrested in the United Arab Emirates but was released in April last year after Pakistani authorities failed to secure his custody in order repatriate him to Pakistan where he is wanted in over 50 cases including 42 cases pending before the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATC) in Karachi.

Wanted: Reward Rs 2 million

Uzair Baloch fled the country after law enforcement agencies launched an operation against criminal elements operating in the city. It was rumoured that Uzair Jan Baloch was hiding in one of the Gulf States.

The gang-war leader was wanted by law enforcers for multiple crimes including murders, attempted murders, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, drug dealing, gambling and multiple other heinous crimes committed in Karachi. The Sindh government had also announced a reward of Rs 2 million (USD 20,000) for the capture of Uzair Jan Baloch.

The string of cases against Uzair Baloch started in 2004, when the first murder case under section 302 (55/2004) was registered against him at the Kalakot police station in Lyari.

The years that followed saw multiple cases against the gang-war leader and the now defunct Peoples Amn Committee (PAC).

The cases against Uzair Jan Baloch were registered at the Chakiwara PS, Baghdadi PS, Kharadar PS, Kalakot PS, Kalri PS, Maripur PS and the Napier PS.

Out of the cases registered against Baloch, he was acquitted in five due to lack of evidence while in 42 cases he was declared an absconder.

Court orders JIT

Uzair Jan Baloch was presented before Justice Farooq Shah of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi under strict Rangers security. The Rangers pleaded the court to grant 90-days custody of the accused which the court granted.

Speaking to the media after the hearing Baloch’s counsel Khwaja Naveed told journalists that the court has ordered the that a Joint Interrogation Team (JIT) be formed within 15 days.