ISLAMABAD: A civil court here has acquitted Dr Mahrang Baloch along with 85 others booked in an FIR lodged at the Tarnol police station during the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC)’s long march to Islamabad last year.

The capital police had registered two FIRs against the participants of the long march, one at Tarnol and the other at the Kohsar police station.

The FIRs were registered in December 2023 against 282 participants, including 197 in Kohsar police station, while Dr Baloch and 85 others were nominated in the FIR at the Tarnol police station for blocking roads, raising slogans against the government, state and armed forces, rioting, disturbing public life etc.

The judicial magistrate (West) recently acquitted all the 85 participants of the BYC’s long march, including Dr Baloch.

The court order released recently said there was lack of evidence in the charges filed by the police and the allegations had been narrated by the complainant, who was a sub-inspector posted to the Tarnol police station.

However, the police could not provide any ‘private independent’ witness even though the incident had occurred at a public place.

The order added that no such video including the CCTV footage had been collected by the investigating agency related to committing offence by the accused persons.

“In these circumstances, application u/s 249-A Cr.PC filed by accused persons is hereby accepted and all the accused persons are hereby acquitted from this case,” the order said, adding: “Accused persons are on bail. Their surety stands discharged. Case property, if any be dealt in accordance with law after a period of appeal/revision, if any.”

Advocate Habib Kareem Baloch representing all the participants in the two cases said 197 people nominated in Kohsar police station’s FIR had been acquitted by Judicial Magistrate Shahzad Khan.

The BYC long march started from Turbat in Balochistan on December 6, 2023, after alleged extrajudicial killing of a Baloch youth by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). They reached Islamabad on December 20, 2023.

The participants included the families of missing persons, including women, children and the elderly, but they were stopped by Islamabad police at Chungi No 26 with batons and tear gas shelling, while a large number of them were arrested.

Later, when the BYC set up a protest camp at the National Press Club (NPC), the situation intensified as the police used force against the participants and the FIR was registered against them in Kohsar police station. All the arrested persons were released on bail and they continued their protest at the sit-in camp at the NPC till January 23, 2024.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024