Patching up?: Govt withdraws bounties for some PAC leaders
Government issues notification withdrawing head money for Zafar Baloch, 11 other PAC members but not for Uzair Baloch.
KARACHI:
After a year of bitter relations, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to bring enraged leaders of Lyari’s defunct Peoples Aman Committee (PAC) back into its fold by de-notifying bounties for their arrest.
The government's decision to remove the bounty had been leaked to the press in late August, but no official notification of that decision was released till today.
According to a notification issued by Home Department on Wednesday, the government was recalled rewards being offered for information which would lead to the arrest and conviction of Zafar Baloch, leader of PAC, along with as many as 11 other PAC members who are wanted in cases ranging from murder, kidnapping for ransom, police encounters and other criminals cases.
Most of these cases had been registered in the immediate aftermath of a police operation in Lyari in April this year. The police action had created rifts between the ruling PPP, the Sindh government and leaders of PPP aligned PAC.
Last year, the government had banned the PAC, reportedly on the demand of its major coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The party leaders alleged that activists of PAC, which was launched by Abdul Rehman Baloch aka Rehman Dakait, were involved in extortion, kidnapping for ransom and other criminal activities in old city area and other parts of the city.
The notification removes previously offered bounties for Zafar Baloch aka Langra, Shakeel, Shafi Pathan, Asif Niazi, Sohail aka Dada, Farhan aka Mota, Shahid aka Mix Pati, Fahad alias Pathan, Younus alas Madi, Ayaz Zohri and Sikandar alias Siko.
“More than twenty activists of PAC belonging to Lyari were booked in fabricated cases and government announced bounty on them. This created resentment among ranks and files of PPP, which has prompted President Zardari to surrender the head money,” Zafar Baloch, who had a Rs0.5 million bounty on his head, told The Express Tribune upon learning of the notification.
Baloch who was a close aide of former Home Minister Dr Zulkiqar Mirza, said that following the Lyari operation, President Zardari had formed a committee headed by MNA Abdul Qadir Patel. This committee had started negotiations with enraged PAC leaders, but they soon stalled as negotiations hit a “deadlock” as the government was not willing to remove the Rs3 million bounty on Uzair Baloch, the current PAC head.
The deadlock broke four months ago after representatives of PAC leaders met with MNA Faryal Talpur, President Zardari’s sister.
The meeting concluded positively with the government agreeing to withdraw head money and cases registered against PAC activists.
“Government has assured us that another notification would be issued de-notifying the head money on Uzair Baloch, Habib Jan and Habib Hassan etc,” Baloch remarked.
Till the filing of this report, the government had not issued the second notification.
After a year of bitter relations, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to bring enraged leaders of Lyari’s defunct Peoples Aman Committee (PAC) back into its fold by de-notifying bounties for their arrest.
The government's decision to remove the bounty had been leaked to the press in late August, but no official notification of that decision was released till today.
According to a notification issued by Home Department on Wednesday, the government was recalled rewards being offered for information which would lead to the arrest and conviction of Zafar Baloch, leader of PAC, along with as many as 11 other PAC members who are wanted in cases ranging from murder, kidnapping for ransom, police encounters and other criminals cases.
Most of these cases had been registered in the immediate aftermath of a police operation in Lyari in April this year. The police action had created rifts between the ruling PPP, the Sindh government and leaders of PPP aligned PAC.
Last year, the government had banned the PAC, reportedly on the demand of its major coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The party leaders alleged that activists of PAC, which was launched by Abdul Rehman Baloch aka Rehman Dakait, were involved in extortion, kidnapping for ransom and other criminal activities in old city area and other parts of the city.
The notification removes previously offered bounties for Zafar Baloch aka Langra, Shakeel, Shafi Pathan, Asif Niazi, Sohail aka Dada, Farhan aka Mota, Shahid aka Mix Pati, Fahad alias Pathan, Younus alas Madi, Ayaz Zohri and Sikandar alias Siko.
“More than twenty activists of PAC belonging to Lyari were booked in fabricated cases and government announced bounty on them. This created resentment among ranks and files of PPP, which has prompted President Zardari to surrender the head money,” Zafar Baloch, who had a Rs0.5 million bounty on his head, told The Express Tribune upon learning of the notification.
Baloch who was a close aide of former Home Minister Dr Zulkiqar Mirza, said that following the Lyari operation, President Zardari had formed a committee headed by MNA Abdul Qadir Patel. This committee had started negotiations with enraged PAC leaders, but they soon stalled as negotiations hit a “deadlock” as the government was not willing to remove the Rs3 million bounty on Uzair Baloch, the current PAC head.
The deadlock broke four months ago after representatives of PAC leaders met with MNA Faryal Talpur, President Zardari’s sister.
The meeting concluded positively with the government agreeing to withdraw head money and cases registered against PAC activists.
“Government has assured us that another notification would be issued de-notifying the head money on Uzair Baloch, Habib Jan and Habib Hassan etc,” Baloch remarked.
Till the filing of this report, the government had not issued the second notification.