HYDERABAD, April 23: Former Sindh minister and PML leader Altaf Unnar has been put in solitary confinement by the Central Hyderabad Prison authorities after being remanded to judicial custody by civil judge and judicial magistrate-II in two separate cases of arms ordinance and attempted murder lodged with Budhapur police.According to his Counsel Athar Abbas, jail administration did not allow Unnar even to meet him although the judicial magistrate had observed in his order that the accused needed treatment for nephrology after medical reports given by Kotri’s Taluka Hospital.

He was medically examined in hospital under court directives issued on an application filed by the Counsel. Budhapur police lodged a separate case under section 13-D of Arms Ordinance for recovery of a Kalashnikov on Tuesday night.

According to his counsel the case was lodged on Tuesday night after police showed recovery of the weapon from the forest of Unnarpur. “Police report said the weapon was recovered from a wooden box kept in a hut in Unnarpur forest. Police also claimed the accused also disclosed that it was the same weapon which he used for firing on February 10, 2007, during by-elections of PS-71”, said his counsel.

Budhapur police filed separate applications for seeking his remand in the main case - the attempted murder case lodged vide crime no 3/08 - for seven days and for 14-days in Arms Ordinance case which is registered vide crime No. 4/08.

The defence counsel also claimed that according to court’s directives his client was to be medically examined but the jail administration did not only deny but also disallowed his meeting inside jail. “Unnar is under virtual solitary confinement”, he said.

Budhapur police arrested Unnar on April 15 in Larkana in connection with FIR No. 3/08 which was lodged on the compliant of sister of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PP Parliamentarians MNA, Dr Azra Fazal from Nawabshah. Interestingly it was the same case the registration of which was refused by Budhapur police under the government functionaries’ directives in the past.

DR Azra had moved session judge Jamshoro for lodging of attempted murder case after she was allegedly fired upon outside a polling station by Unnar, then Sindh inter provincial coordination minister Dr Sohrab Sarki, Jamshoro PML president Malik Changez and others on February 10, 2007.

PPP’s candidate Dr Sikandar Shoro lost by-elections to PML’s Pir Mujeeb Shah Jilani.