Asad Kharal sent on 14-day judicial remand

SUKKUR: Asad Kharal, a government clerk, and an alleged front man of Tariq Sial, the younger brother of Sindh home minister Sohail Sial, was sent to jail on Saturday on a 14-day judicial remand.

Kharal was arrested by the Sukkur police from the Sukkur-Shikarpur highway late Friday night.

Official sources had revealed that Kharal was held during a routine patrol and police had recovered a pistol and some bullets from his car.

A case was registered against him at the local police station on charges of causing damage to a police vehicle and possessing an illegal weapon. He was produced in the Sukkur district and sessions court amid tight security on Saturday. After hearing the case, the judge sent him to jail on judicial remand for 14 days.

There were also reports of Kharal's 'arrest' near Hyderabad on Thursday night but this was neither confirmed by the police nor the Rangers. Informed sources claimed that Kharal was in police custody since the Larkana incident and his arrest was only declared last night — believed to be the outcome of a recent meeting between the Rangers chief and the Sindh government high-ups. On the night of July 12 in Larkana, Kharal was allegedly whisked away by policemen loyal to the younger Sial after Rangers and anti-corruption officials, reportedly in plainclothes, tried to arrest him.

Since then, he had reportedly gone into hiding, with the incident leading to a tussle and war of words between the Rangers and the provincial government.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2016.