KARACHI, June 22: A sessions court acquitted on Saturday a member of the National Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party in an attempted murder and attack on police case.

Shahjehan Baloch, who won an NA seat (NA-248 Lyari) in the May 11 general elections on a PPP ticket while being lodged in jail, was charged with carrying out an attack on CID personnel when they raided a place in the Kalakot area last year to arrest him and his accomplices.

The accused, through his lawyer, moved an acquittal application under Section 265-K (power of court to acquit accused at any stage) of the criminal procedure code and submitted that there was no solid evidence against him to establish the charge.

He submitted that no weapon was found in his possession at the time of the raid during which he was arrested.After hearing both sides, Additional District and Sessions Judge (south) Shahid Hussain Chandio allowed the acquittal plea and ruled that no concrete evidence was available with the prosecution to link the applicant with the alleged offence and there was no probability of his conviction in the case.

A case was registered against the accused and his accomplices under Sections 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The PPP lawmaker along with some leaders and activists of the banned People’s Amn Committee was also booked in a number of cases for allegedly putting up resistance during an operation conducted in Lyari in April-May last year by allegedly attacking and killing law-enforcers.

Moreover, the MNA, who is an undertrial prisoner, is among a number of suspects who have recently been charge-sheeted in the Arshad Pappu murder case.