Pakistani court grants interim pre-arrest bail to suspect in murder of underworld figure’s son

A court in Pakistan has granted interim pre-arrest bail to Khwaja Aqeel Ahmad, widely known as Gogi Butt, in the high-profile murder case of Ameer Balaj Tipu, the son of Lahore gangster Arif Ameer, who was shot dead at a wedding last year.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Assad Hafeez approved the bail on Thursday. The court directed Butt to furnish surety bonds worth PKR 50,000 and to cooperate fully with the investigation. The interim relief will remain in effect until Aug. 16.

Butt appeared before the Lahore Sessions Court under tight security, accompanied by his lawyers, Advocates K.P. Rai and Muhammad Ali. Deputy District Public Prosecutor Saleem Ahmad Gill represented the state.

During the hearing, the defense argued that Butt was falsely implicated and accused the complainant and police of acting with mala fide intent. The court issued notices to both the complainant and the prosecution, seeking their responses before the next hearing.

The defense told the court that Butt wanted to join the investigation to prove his innocence.

Chung police registered the murder case against Butt and others over the killing of Ameer Balaj, who was gunned down during a wedding ceremony in the Chung area in February 2024.

Last year, another suspect in the same case, Ahsan Shah, was allegedly killed during a crossfire between the Organized Crime Unit (OCU) of Lahore police and armed men whom police said were attempting to free him.

According to police, Shah was being taken to a location in Lahore’s Shadbagh area for investigation when his brother and unidentified gunmen attacked the OCU team.

During the shootout, Shah was critically wounded, allegedly by the attackers’ gunfire. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Shah, a close confidant of the victim, was arrested after investigations revealed that he had conspired with a network of gangsters to plan Balaj’s killing.

Balaj was the son of Arif Ameer, better known as Tipu Truckanwala, a notorious figure in Lahore’s criminal underworld who was shot dead in 2010 during an armed attack at Lahore airport.