KARACHI: Dumper Truck Owners Association President Liaquat Mehsud managed to escape the premises of City Courts after a sessions court dismissed his pre-arrest bail application in a rioting case on Saturday.

Mehsud, along with his other associates, has been booked in a case pertaining to opening fire on people protesting against a fatal accident involving a dumper on the night between Nov 3 and Nov 4 in the Nishtar Road area. On the next day, the suspect had moved the court and got interim pre-arrest bail.

On Saturday, Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Irshad Hussain rejected the pre-arrest bail application and also recalled his interim bail after hearing both sides and examining the record.

The court noted that the act of indiscriminate firing on people by a guard of the applicant was an act of terrorism and the case should be exclusively tried by an anti-terrorism court.

The suspect appeared in court and as soon as the order was announced he managed to escape from the court premises and police as well as the investigating officer (IO) failed to arrest him.

In its order, the court stated that as per the footage produced by the IO, the applicant along with his guard was present at the scene and the latter opened straight fire at the people, which created terror, fear and insecurity among the public.

It also noted that the permit of the weapon used in the crime was also not valid as it had expired in September.

The court observed that although no one sustained firearm injuries, the act of indiscriminate firing on the people amount to use of lethal force in public.

It said that the case came within the ambit of Section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and there were reasonable grounds to believe that the suspect has committed the offences of terrorism, rioting and attempted murder.

Initially, the FIR against Mehsud was lodged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed) and 337-H (ii) (rash or negligent act to endanger human life) of the Pakistan Penal Court against the dumpers association’s head at Garden police station.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2025