QUETTA, Dec 23: Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Ismail Baloch on Thursday remanded Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, a grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti and president of the Balochistan chapter of Jamhoori Watan Party, in police custody for seven days. Twenty-six security guards of Mr Bugti were remanded in custody too.
Frontier Corps personnel had arrested them on Wednesday after finding a huge quantity of illegal arms and ammunition in vehicles of Shahzain’s convoy coming from the border town of Chaman.
Shahzain Bugti was brought to the court in an armoured vehicle from the Police Rest House amid tight security. Balochistan Constabulary and police personnel were deployed outside the court. The Frontier Corps had handed over Shahzain Bugti and his security guards to police on Wednesday night. Shahzain was shifted to the Police Rest House in Quetta Cant from the Ghaza Band Scouts headquarters.
Airport police registered a case against Shahzain Bugti for keeping illegal arms and ammunition.
Shahzain Bugti said he had nothing to do with the arms and ammunition recovered by security forces. “If I had this quantity of arms and ammunition, who could have stopped me at the checkpost,” he told reporters after appearing in the court.
He said the vehicles in his motorcade had no capacity to carry such a huge stockpile of arms and ammunition, adding that it needed a truck to carry these weapons and his caravan did not include one.
Mr Bugti said he had full confidence in courts and was ready to face charges against him. He said he had been framed under a conspiracy to stop
him from holding a march to Dera Bugti on Jan 28.
JWP Secretary General Mir Yousuf Notizai Agha Mohammad Ali Hazara and a large number of party workers gathered outside the court.
PROBE TEAM: The provincial home department has announced that a seven-member team, headed by DIG (Investigation) Wazir Khan Nasar, has been constituted to interrogate Shahzain Bugti and his security guards.
According to a notification issued on Thursday night, the joint team included officials from Inter-Services Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Frontier Corps Balochistan, Federal Investigation Agency, CID and Crimes Branch.
It will submit its report in seven days – Dawn
