A court in Karachi has acquitted Uzair Baloch, a gangster who went on to become one of the main faces of the Lyari gang war, in a 2013 murder case.

A case was registered against Baloch and seven people after a man, named Noshad, was kidnapped and later killed in Kalri on March 13, 2013.

The court ruled that there was a lack of evidence to prove Baloch’s involvement in the case. The prosecution failed to present any evidence or witnesses, the court added.

The prosecution didn’t even know who murdered Noshad, the court said.

Baloch’s lawyer argued that his client was nominated in the case on political grounds. The murder was committed on March 13, while the police registered the case on March 17, he said.

The lawyer argued that Baloch’s name was included in the FIR following the statement of a police officer who wasn’t even present at the crime scene.

Baloch was presented in court under strict security and his face remained covered throughout the proceedings.

On January 7, Baloch was acquitted in attempted murder, and police encounter cases. The South additional and sessions judge ruled that the prosecution failed to present any incriminating evidence against Baloch.

Baloch was booked on April 1, 2012 for attacking policemen in Kalakot with the intent to murder them. ASI Abdul Waheed was shot and injured in the attack.

Baloch was arrested by the Rangers on January 30, 2016. In a statement, he now denies, the gangster had confessed to criminal activities such as murders, extorting money, encroaching on land, illegally occupying 14 sugar mills, harassing residents and purchasing arms.

In April 2017, he was handed over to the Pakistan Army after being accused of espionage and leaking information to foreign intelligence agencies. The army handed him over to the police after three years on April 6, 2020.

Baloch has been accused of murdering a total of 198 people. He denies the charges. In August 2020, a Karachi Anti-Terrorism Court indicted him in the murder of gangster Arshad Pappu.