Quetta, June 18: Law-enforcement agencies have arrested Abdul Rehman ‘Dakait’, wanted in a large number of criminal cases in Sindh and Balochistan, and moved him to Karachi by air for interrogation.

Official sources here said that Rehman was arrested, along with his two children, from a house in the VIP colony in Jinnah town early on Sunday morning. Senior police officers refused to confirm the report, but the Pakistan Television, Quetta, in its local bulletin reported the news of Rehman’s arrest.

Our staff reporter in Karachi adds: The whereabouts of Abdul Rehman Baloch, carrying a bounty of half a million rupees, remained a mystery as police officials in Karachi insisted they had no information about his arrest while reports from Quetta indicated that he had been flown into the provincial capital.

Personnel of the Lyari Task Force, who had been looking for Rehman for quite some time, refused to comment.

According to police, Rehman is wanted in at least 200 cases registered in different police stations in Sindh and Balochistan.

It is alleged that he committed his first murder when he killed his mother and later took to narcotics trade under the patronage of some police officers. According to one source, there was ‘a long list of beneficiaries’, who exploited their ‘relationship’ with Rehman and his comrades.

In late 1996, Rehman Dakait had been arrested for his involvement in 26 criminal cases. He demanded money from his mentor, Haji Laloo, for defending himself in court and to post a bail for his release, but Laloo refused because he believed that Rehman would never be released.

Dramatically, Rehman escaped while he was being taken to court for a hearing in 1997.