Zafar Baloch's murder: Until police pin the blame, Nabeel Gabol remains innocent

PAC leader was killed by two notorious Lyari gangsters on Baba Ladla's orders, says JIT report.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Nabeel Gabol was nominated in the murder of the banned Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) leader Zafar Baloch however investigators have yet to prove his involvement in the crime, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Zafar Baloch, a diehard activist of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and a key figure in the banned PAC, was shot dead on September 18 by armed motorcyclists in Lyari. A murder case was registered at the Kalakot police station under Sections 302 (murder), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code by the victim's father, Mohammad Ali Baloch.

JIT report

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising representatives of police, Rangers and intelligence agencies was constituted to probe Zafar's murder. Sources privy to the matter told The Express Tribune that the representatives of the JIT did not find any evidence against Gabol.



The findings suggest that Zafar was killed by notorious Lyari gangsters Sikander alias Sikku and Ismail Afshani on Baba Ladla's orders, they alleged. The sources further said that Ladla had already warned the outlawed PAC chief Uzair Baloch not to return to Lyari, or he would kill his right-hand man, Zafar. "He did not name Zafar while giving the warning to Uzair. He just said the right hand."

According to them, Uzair got into Ladla's bad books after the former did not extend support in a conflict with the Kutchi Rabita Committee. In addition, the PAC chief was irked after he found out about the alleged involvement of Uzair in a bomb blast in Lyari - in which Ladla narrowly escaped.

Besides Gabol, the police have been unable to arrest any culprits. "There is a remarkable difference between what was registered in the FIR and what actually happened," JIT representative DSP Shakeel Ahmed told The Express Tribune. "We will submit the report to the relevant court after our investigations are finalised so that the court can decide what to do next."



Meanwhile, Friends of Lyari chairperson Habib Jan Baloch rejected the findings of the JIT. "The JIT has no credibility," he said, adding that there was no dispute between Uzair and Ladla. "They are on good terms."

On the other hand, the police have also recorded the statement of Gabol in which he rejected the allegations made against him in the FIR. "Everyone knows who killed Zafar and why. I would want to ask everyone why there was no protest or strong reaction over the killing of Zafar? But I already know the answer to that."

Gabol was of the view that the people knew the culprits behind the murder but were scared to stand up against them. He said he was ready to face the courts. "I just want to say that Lyari gang war elements will kill each other and perish."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2013.