Court seeks report about Uzair Baloch’s jail transfer

Prison officials had not informed the court about the Lyari gangster's transfer

KARACHI: A local court sought on Saturday a report regarding the transfer of notorious Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch to the Karachi Central Jail.

The jail officials, who did not inform the court about Baloch's transfer to the central jail, could not present him before the city court despite his transfer.

Baloch's counsel, Hafiz Lashari, maintained that the accused was handed over to the jail officials on March 31, requesting the bench to issue orders to present him in court. The court remarked that it had not been informed about the accused's transfer to the jail.

Seeking the report on his transfer, the court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

The hearings of 54 cases against Baloch, a key figure in Lyari's violent gang war and the chief of the defunct Peoples Aman Committee, were stopped due to his absence.

Baloch had been arrested by the Rangers for numerous cases, including for the murders of law enforcement personnel, in 2016. He was handed over to the Pakistan Army in 2017 under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act, 1923.

Court accepts interim bail

Separately, a local court accepted the interim bail of the accused in a murder case amid a scuffle, against the surety of Rs 100,000.

The bail plea was filed in the Malir District Court.

The accused, Sohrab Raza, reportedly visited the court with his mother to apply for his pre-arrest bail in the case, but the petitioner along with his companions tried to stop him, resulting in a scuffle. However, the court police resolved the issue, while the court approved his bail.

The petitioner had accused Raza of murdering his nephew.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2020.