Warrants reissued for Bikak

The alleged gangster was on bail for more than a year

KARACHI: For the third time since October, an anti-terrorism court issued on Saturday non-bailable warrants for the arrest of an alleged gangster Shahid Bikak.

Bikak is said to be the ringleader of a gang involved in killings, kidnappings, extortion, drug peddling and other crimes. In the ATC-V, he is facing four cases of attempting to murder, attacking law enforcers and possessing illicit weapons and explosives that were registered in 2011 at the Gulbahar police station. There are similar cases against him pending in other courts too.

The accused was on bail in all these cases for more than a year. However, in the previous month the court was told by the police that he had disappeared to escape the trial. A report submitted by the police read that he was not available at the given addresses and his relatives did not know about his whereabouts either.



The court had issued arrest warrants for him twice in the last few days but the police have yet to apprehend him. On Saturday, a similar report was submitted to the court after which the judge, Javed Alam, asked the investigators to intensify the hunt for the alleged gangster and issued orders to produce him by the end of this month.

The accused was implicated in the murder case of Bilal Sheikh, security chief of former president Asif Ali Zardari. But later on, he was relieved of the charges after a joint investigation team found him not involved in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2015.