Uzair Baloch confessed killing 198 people including security personnel: JIT report

KARACHI: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has prepared a 36-page report against the notorious gangster, Uzair Baloch, which stated that he admitted to killing 198 persons including officials of police forces and Rangers and many others, ARY News reported on Friday.

The 36-page JIT report against Uzair Baloch, who is known as a symbol of fear in Karachi, acquired by ARY News which made revelations of horrible facts regarding the criminal activities of one of the gang war leaders. The report would be publicised by the Sindh government on July 6 (Monday).

The investigators also listed names of Uzair Baloch’s family members, as well as exposed his accomplices who had carried out inhumane crimes including killings gang war opponents, policemen, Rangers officials and receiving extortion from citizens. The names of Habib Jan Baloch, Habib Hasan, Noor Muhammad alias Baba Ladla, also known as Lyari gang war commander, and dozens of others were also mentioned in the JIT report.

It emerged that Baloch had murdered almost all persons involved in the gang war or ethnic clashes, whereas, he used political influences to make appointments of several police officials of his own choice.

The JIT report revealed that seven station house officers (SHOs) had been appointed in police stations on the basis of Baloch’s political influences in order to establish an organised network of criminals in Lyari. In 2019, Iqbal Bhatti had been appointed as Town Police Office (TPO) Lyari by Uzair Baloch, whereas, Muhammad Raisi had been given charge of Lyari administrator in the same year.

He was also found involved in killings of several police officials and Rangers personnel, as well as he purchased different genre of weaponry between 2008 and 2013. The notorious criminals linked with Lyari gang war were also involved in receiving extortion.

The report stated that the extortion money worth million was sent to a foreign country on a monthly basis despite Baloch fled from Pakistan during wide-scale operation initiated in Karachi. The JIT investigators also exposed the ownnership of illegal assets of Uzair Baloch in Pakistan and Dubai.

More than 20 accomplices of Uzair Baloch are listed in the JIT report which also mentioned a 16-member squad of the Lyari gang war criminal. In 2016, he had been arrested by security officials in Chuhar Jamali area of Thatta. After being arrested, Baloch had been challaned in seven cases and spent 10 months behind bars.

After the commencement of Karachi Operation, a key character of Lyari gang war, Ustad Taju, had fled to Dubai and later to Africa with the assistance of Baloch, whereas, he also confessed to send more than 10 gang war members to Iran and other countries.

The report said that former administrator of Lyari Town had paid Rs200,000 extortion money to Baloch in 2009, whereas, gang war criminals looted various shipment trucks on his directions. After selling the assets of the looted trucks, Uzair Baloch had been paid a portion of money up to Rs1.5 million each.

Regarding the arms supplies to the gang war criminals, the investigators uncovered the organised chain of illegal weapon suppliers as Uzair Baloch admitted purchases of weaponry from Lala Tawakkal and Salim Pathan. He told JIT members that he equipped gang war members with arms in 2009.

After Rehman Dakait, Uzair Baloch started receiving extortion from fishing boat owners. He confessed to illegally get his birth certificate, identity card and passport from Iran which was assisted by a lady named Ayesha.

Earlier in the day, the Sindh government announced to make JIT reports public including the probe findings against Uzair Baloch, Baldia Town inferno and Nisar Morai cases.

Uzair Baloch had been arrested by the Rangers on January 30, 2016. He had confessed to committing crimes such as murder, extortion, encroachment of lands, and purchasing illegal arms.

In April 2017, his custody was handed over to the military after he was accused of espionage and leaking information to foreign intelligence agencies. He was later handed over to the police on April 6, 2020.