KARACHI: A sessions court on Wednesday acquitted Uzair Baloch, the chief of the outlawed Peoples Aman Committee, and his accomplice, Gaffar Mama, in a 15-year-old police encounter and attempted murder case for lack of evidence.

The additional district and sessions judge (South), who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove charges against Uzair Baloch and Ghaffar Mama.

The court acquitted them under Section 295-H (i) of the criminal procedure code.

It directed the jail authority to release Uzair if his custody was not required in any other cases.

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According to the prosecution, in August 2009, the police received information that Abdul Rehman, alias Rehman Dakait, and his accomplices were travelling in three cars. Acting on the tip-off, the police chased the cars and when they attempted to stop them, the occupants started firing.

In an ensuing exchange of gunfire, Rehman Dakait, Aurangzeb, Nazeer Baloch and Aqeel Ahmed Baloch were killed, while their accomplices, including Uzair Baloch, in one of the three cars managed to escape from the scene, it added.

The prosecution said that before dying, suspect Aurangzeb told the police that Uzair and other accomplices were in the car that escaped from the scene.

However, defence counsel Safdar Hussain argued that Aurangzeb’s post-mortem report said that he was shot 10 times, including two bullets in the neck, and such an injured person was not capable of giving a statement on the spot.

The defence argued that there was a discrepancy between the time recorded in the police statement and the time of death mentioned in the autopsy report.

A case was registered at the Steel Town police station under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (attempted murder), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The alleged gangster is facing trial in dozens of cases pertaining to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion and encounters with law enforcers. So far, he has been acquitted in more than two dozen cases mainly due to lack of evidence.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024