ISLAMABAD - Top leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) anticipate hard days for their party ahead in case Uzair Baloch, the prime suspect of Lyari gang-war, is extradited to Pakistan from Dubai.
Baloch, once considered as political face of PPP in Lyari, was arrested in Dubai by the Interpol authorities in December last year while he was crossing into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Oman using fake Iranian passport.
A senior PPP leader told The Nation that Uzair Baloch had blown the lid off the top PPP leaders during investigation process in Dubai pointing fingers at his mentors in Karachi who, according to the gang leader, would order him for killing or kidnapping for ransom activities.
“We have information that Uzair Baloch would be extradited to Pakistan next week. He will be used against PPP similar to Saulat Mirza who had squarely blamed MQM for his misdeeds,” the PPP leader told this reporter seeking anonymity.
“Uzair Baloch may spill the beans about the mysterious killing of Khalid Shehanshah, the top security-guard of late Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Although his revelation could not be proved in a court of law but it will incur an instant damage on the party in public eyes,” he added.
He said Pakistani police officials have expedited efforts in Dubai in getting custody of the Lyari gang war suspect after clearing some legal hiccups.
“In case Baloch is brought to Pakistan, the worries of PPP would be doubled at a time when former Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza and some other party fellows have turned against their party,” he maintained.
Uzair Baloch, 38, an alleged leader of one of the gangs operating in crime-infested Lyari, has been blamed for running a network involved in criminal activities including killings, extortion and drugs business. Besides, he was considered as the other face of PPP in Karachi.
However, PPP has repeatedly distanced itself from owning the once fearful gang leader.
Two months after his arrest in UAE, the government formed a special police team led by SSP Naveed Khwaja, DSP Kharadar Zahid Hussain, and SSP Crime Investigation Department (CID) Usman Bajwa to secure his handover.
But the team provided little evidence to authorities in UAE against the gang leader that resultantly failed to get the gang leader in custody. But according to well-informed sources, Baloch would be soon extradited to Pakistan for further investigation.Uzair, according to sources, has some key information about the killing of Khalid Shehanshah few months after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 27, 2007.
Shehanshah, who was Bhutto’s personal security guard and one of the key eyewitnesses when Benazir was assassinated outside Liaquat Bagh, was shot dead in Clifton area in July 2008 by unidentified men.
PPP leaders seriously doubt what they term ‘dubious role’ of the federal government particularly Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan who, they say, has bent upon maligning the image of PPP.