May 12 carnage: Wasim Akhtar, 55 others charge-sheeted

MQM leader was CM's adviser on home affairs at the time

KARACHI: The anti-terrorism courts' (ATC) administrative judge approved on Tuesday an interim charge sheet against Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Wasim Akhtar and 55 others in two cases pertaining to the May 12, 2007, riots.

The police submitted a charge sheet against Akhtar, his party's MPAs Muhammad Adnan alias Adnan Batuk, Kamran Farooqui and others for their alleged involvement in the riots that erupted some nine years ago in the city.



According to the charge sheet, Akhtar, who was adviser to the chief minister on home affairs at the time, had confessed to the crimes during interrogation and one of the key suspects, Aslam alias Kala, was arrested on a lead given by Akhtar.

The investigating officer told the judge that the police had recovered from Aslam a weapon allegedly used in the killings during the riots. The weapon was sent for a forensic test.

The officer asserted that there was sufficient evidence against the suspects and the authorities had been asked to constitute a joint investigation team to question them in the cases.

The charge sheet read that the police had also sought CDs of the footage of the violence aired by news channels on May 12, 2007 from Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to trace the absconding suspects.



Further, seven more suspects, Hanif alias Gada, Imran alias Rangrez, Salman Rizvi, Nasir, Noorul Hasan, Faisal and Zahar Qureshi were taken into custody on the charges of murder, attempt to murder and rioting while the rest are absconding. Six suspects have already been released for lack of evidence during the last week.

The administrative judge, after approving the charge sheet, sent the two cases to ATC-III for the trial. The judge also sought from the police charge sheets in the four remaining cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2016.