In the latest development in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the Pakistani Army has allegedly traced links between Jadhav and the former Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch. In their recent report, the Pak authorities have also notified that Baloch was in constant touch with Kulbhushan Jadhav since March 2016.
However, who is Uzair Baloch and what is his story?
Known as the Tony Soprano of Karachi, Uzair Baloch is the son of a transporter, Faiz Mohammad alias Faizu Mama. He was a resident of Lyari- a Karachi neighbourhood known for gang wars among the ethnic communities of Baloch, Pashtuns and Mohajirs. And he rose to infamy after the killing of the famous gangster Rehman Baloch in an alleged police encounter in 2009.
Uzair has been allegedly involved in extortion, attacks on security personnel and spying for foreign intelligence agencies. He has over 100 cases charged against him for murders, attempted murders, extortion, arms smuggling, attacks on police and Rangers and spying for foreign intelligence agencies!
The 37-year-old gangster has also been the political face of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Lyari — a label the PPP is struggling to distance itself from. He tried his luck in politics as an independent candidate for the seat of Lyari Nazim in the 2001 elections but lost to Habib Hassan, a staunch Pakistan Peoples Party activist.
Uzair is also accused of working for Baloch separatist organisations and tried to flee Pakistan to the Middle East but was detained by the Dubai border security personnel based on Interpol’s red-warrant on December 29, 2014, at the Dubai-Oman border. He was in the custody of the Abu Dhabi police for nearly three months where he reportedly told the court that he is an Iranian national and would not want to be deported to Pakistan.
His lawyer, one of the top criminal lawyers of the UAE, appealed to the court that Uzair would be killed if given in the custody of the Pakistani authorities. However, he could not prove his Iranian nationality as the sole Iranian passport he had, was found to be forged. So, the UAE authorities reportedly handed over Uzair to Pakistani sleuths secretly who later brought him to the country last year.
The Pakistani Army now suspects that Baloch was in contact with foreign intelligence agencies, including alleged R&AW ‘operative’ Jadhav and an Iranian spy agency. He will be tried by a military court on charges of spying.
However, it still remains to be seen if Uzair is actually Jadav’s ally or is it Pakistan’s another attempt to frame Jadav at any cost.
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