New Delhi: The Pakistan Army has taken custody of a Karachi-based underworld don who they claim was helping Kulbhushan Jadhav to spy against the country.
According to Pakistani media reports, the Army took custody of Uzair Baloch on espionage charges.
Baloch was arrested by Pakistan Rangers personnel outside Karachi in January 2016 in a so called raid.
Jadhav was arrested reportedly from Balochistan after he entered from Iran in March 2016. He was accused by Pakistan of being a “R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent” and planning “subversive activities” in the country.
The Indian government, on the other hand, believed that he was picked up from Iran.
Also Read:‘Pak Attempting Pre-planned Murder of Kulbhushan, Creating Unrest in Kashmir’
The case took a turn In December 2016, when Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz told the Pakistan Senate that there was not enough evidence against Jadhav.
However, in March, Aziz retracted his statement and ruled out any possibility of extraditing Jadhav back to India.
Aziz told the Senate that Pakistan never said there was any lack of evidence against him. “We have filed an FIR and prepared a case to prosecute Indian state actor for his subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan,” he said.
Aziz said Islamabad had shared a dossier with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on New Delhi’s involvement in internal affairs of Pakistan, and in subversive and terrorist activities in the country.
Besides being ‘involved’ with Jadhav, Baloch is accused in other ‘anti-state’ activities.
Baloch is the head of lyari gang, a Karachi-based criminal gang. The Pakistanis also claim Baloch was working for Iranian intelligence officials.
a report from the Dawn said that Baloch’s arrest is embroiled in controversy as more than a year after his arrest in Dubai by Interpol, he mysteriously surfaced in Karachi, only to be caught by Sindh Rangers in their ‘targeted action’.
Baloch, once known for his loyalty to the Pakistan Peoples Party and close contacts with its certain leaders, was declared absconder in over 40 cases.