KARACHI: Former home minister of Sindh province Zulfiqar Mirza, whose pre-arrest bail expired on Saturday continued to evade arrest.
Mirza, a confidant of former president Asif Ali Zardari has moved the Sindh High Court (SHC) seeking exemption from appearing in courts hearing his bail pleas.
Police detained about two dozen guards and supporters from the SHC as Mirza managed to take refuge in the registrar’s office in court. Police also baton-charged media present at the court for coverage of the case.
Earlier in the day, an anti terrorism court (ATC) had turned down Mirza’s application for exemption. Mirza claimed police commandoes and the police force was deployed on the route from his residence to the court.
The deployment, he said, was done to deter him from appearing in the court resulting in his arrest. He said he was granted bail in all cases he was implicated in, but the police was still trying to arrest him.
Mirza had lately defected from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after serious differences with Zardari.
Police on Friday raided his house and arrested Mirza’s driver and a security guard. Weapons were also confiscated.
Earlier, the ATC had extended bail to Mirza until May 30 in three cases of rioting, looting, attempted murder and attacking police officials. The cases were registered against him in Badin, Mirza’s home town as well as in Karachi, where he lives.
Police had also besieged his farmhouse at Badin where he resisted the arrest and his guards did not allow the police to enter into his house and arrest him. The standoff ended only when Fahmida Mirza, his wife and former speaker of the National Assembly, held an intervening press conference, accusing the government of being a tyrant.
Mirza then came to Karachi along with a big convoy and housed himself in his posh residence in the Defence area.
Appearing on different television channels, Mirza accused Zardari of corruption and murder claiming he had evidence about the former presidents wrongdoings.
