KARACHI, Jan 22: The Sindh High Court on Monday granted bail to former provincial minister Maqbool Ahmed Sheikh and 21 others allegedly involved in heavy firing on a police contingent when the latter arrived at a farm near Shikarpur to evict the sacked revenue minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, and his men in November 2005.

According to complainant Shahid Ali Pathan, the farm was owned by Ms Saira Bano but the ownership and possession was disputed by Imtiaz Sheikh and Maqbool Sheikh, who had unlawfully occupied it.

He informed the police of the illegal occupation but when a contingent reached the farm, about four kilometres off Shikarpur, Imtiaz’s men subjected it to rocket and gun attack. He named 26 accused and 24 unknown people.

The clash occurred at about 7pm and continued for three hours. The case is being tried by anti-terrorist court, which rejected the bail applications of the accused.

Sixteen of the accused, including Imtiaz Sheikh, Maqbool Sheikh and their cousin, Zafar Sheikh, who was nazim of Shikarpur Taluka Council, obtained interim bail from the high court whereas accused Roshan Ali and five others were taken into custody.

A division bench comprising Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi and Justice Munib Ahmed Khan confirmed the interim bail granted to 15 of the accused who appeared before it.

The bench adjourned the hearing of Imtiaz’s bail application to February 1 to enable him to appear on his return home from abroad.

The ex-minister has been granted interim bail in various cases registered against him. Roshan Ali and five other accused, who had been arrested in the Shikarpur firing case, were admitted to bail in a sum of Rs100,000 each.

The bench noted the arguments of the applicants’ counsel, Fareed A. Dayo, that two complaints were registered in the firing case. There was an 18-hours delay in the lodging of FIR by Shahid Pathan, though the police station was only a few kilometres away from the scene. The incident had occurred at 7pm and it should not have been possible for the complainant to identify 26 accused. No one was injured in the hours-long clash. The case, the counsel contended, was false and was fabricated at the instance of the chief minister, who was hostile to his former revenue minister, added the counsel.

OTHER CASES: Justice Mushir Alam of the Sindh High Court on Monday put off to Tuesday the hearing of Imtiaz Sheikh’s applications for confirmation of interim bail granted to him in cases of double murder, kidnapping for ransom and corruption.