Mohsin Baig sent to jail in illegal arms’ case

By Abid Usman

ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court on Sunday sent Mohsin Baig to jail on judicial remand in a case pertaining to carrying illegal arms after he resisted a raid from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and opened fire on the personnel.
Baig was presented before the court of duty judge Shoaib Akhtar, who sent him on judicial remand in a case filed at Margalla police station under charges of carrying an illegal weapon.
He is currently on physical remand in a case filed under terrorism charges.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday extended the physical remand of media personality Mohsin Baig by three days.
Police produced Baig before Judge Mohammad Ali Warraich after the completion of his previous remand. The court extended his physical remand for three days with a direction for the police to produce him at the next hearing slated for Feb 21.
The ATC sent Baig’s two employees to prison on judicial remand. Over the course of the hearing, the police placed on record pictures of the accused brandishing and pointing a gun at FIA officials during a raid at his house.
Barrister Latif Khosa, who represented Mohsin Baig, moved an application seeking to quash the FIR filed against his client. He stated that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed the FIR against Baig at 9am and raided his residence at 9:30am.
FIA officials in civil dress illegally barged into the house without any warrant, he claimed, lamenting that they didn’t follow the legal procedure. “In half an hour, the FIR was lodged, an inquiry conducted and the arrest made,” he said.
On the other hand, the police said that the custody of Mohsin Baig was needed as they have not yet recovered the pistol from his custody. Opposing the plea for remand extension, Baig’s lawyers said the weapon was seized by the police shortly after the arrest.