KARACHI: A sessions court has acquitted Uzair Baloch, the chief of the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee, and his accomplice, Gaffar Mama, in a 15-year-old police encounter and attempted murder case due to lack of evidence.
Uzair Baloch and Abdul Ghaffar, alias Mama, were charged with assaulting police with the intent to kill within the limits of the Steel Town police station in August 2009. The additional sessions judge (South), who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, delivered the verdict after reviewing the evidence and hearing final arguments from both sides.
The judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the accused, leading to their acquittal due to insufficient evidence. The court office was ordered to issue a release order for Uzair, who was in custody. However, Uzair is unlikely to be released immediately as he faces other criminal cases pending in anti-terrorism courts and sessions courts. Ghaffar had already been granted bail in the present case.
According to the prosecution, police received a tip-off that Abdul Rehman, alias Rehman Dakait, wanted in multiple criminal cases including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and robbery, was heading to Kathore on August 10, 2009. When police tried to intercept him on the link road, an encounter ensued, resulting in the deaths of Rehman and his three associates, Aurangzaib, alias Baba, Nazer, alias Balla, and Aqil.
One of the deceased reportedly informed the police before succumbing to his injuries that Uzair and Ghaffar were present and had managed to escape the scene, the prosecution claimed.
However, the defense counsel argued that his clients were not present at the scene and had been falsely implicated. He pointed out contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence, casting doubt on their case, and pleaded with the judge to acquit them for lack of evidence.
