Daily Times

LAHORE: Additional District & Sessions Court on Friday granted interim bail to former Punjab police inspector Abid ‘Boxer’ in 10 cases.

Abid Boxer was produced before the Additional District & Sessions Judge Rehmat Ali following which his interim bail was approved in a total of 10 cases, including three murder and two robbery cases.

The wanted ex-police officer was arrested by authorities in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year and brought back to the country.

The court awarded bail on the surety bonds worth Rs 100,000. The judge also ordered police not to arrest Abid until August 4

Talking to the media outside the court, Abid said he is extremely happy at returning to the country after 11 years.

In a video message released on Thursday, Abid alleged that the then Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif had lodged false cases against him over a land dispute with his uncle, following which he fled the country in 2007.

On Wednesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the relevant authorities to produce the wanted criminal in court on July 27.

The orders were given as acting LHC Chief Justice Anwarul Haq took up the plea of Abid’s father-in-law Jaffer Rafi, who has petitioned the court to order authorities to produce Abid in court following his reported extradition to the country earlier this year.

During the hearing, the deputy attorney general informed the court that Abid has been brought back to Pakistan. The petitioner has expressed fear that his son-in-law will be killed in a fake encounter and sought the LHC’s assistance to provide him protection and ascertain his exact whereabouts and health condition.

In March this year, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had informed the LHC that Abid had not been extradited to Pakistan through Interpol.

During proceedings, the FIA had informed the court that Abid who had been arrested from Dubai on February 7 had not been brought back to Pakistan.

However, the media had reported earlier that the former police officer accused of various extra-judicial killings and other crimes in Punjab had been brought back to Pakistan on February 20.

Earning his nickname because he joined the police force on a sports quota, Abid had a reputation for his ruthless modus operandi and operating above the law during the 1990s.

He was later charged for various extrajudicial killings and corruption and was sacked from the police force. He had since been a fugitive and one of the country’s most-wanted criminals.

According to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Abid used to kill people on orders of Shehbaz Sharif and fled the country when he figured out Shehbaz was planning to get him killed.

In 2002, Abid made stage artist Nargis the victim of his high-handed violence.

Out of fear, many artists were compelled to keep good terms with him.

Among his crime-partners include a former police officer Naveed Saeed who was killed in 2005 in Satokatla and land grabbers like Malik Ihsan, Gogi Butt and Taifi Butt, who were backing him financially during his stay abroad.

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st 2018.