MQM demands judicial probe into Zahra Hussain's murder

Farooq Sattar says they will be filing a civil and criminal defamation suit against Imran Khan.

KARACHI: Hours after the senior vice president in Sindh of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was shot dead in Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) demanded that a high level judicial inquiry be conducted into the events surrounding the murder.

Speaking at an emergency press conference early on Sunday, a visibly agitated MQM deputy convener Farooq Sattar, on behalf of the MQM further extended their party chief's condolence and condemnation message to the family of Hussain and PTI workers.

"We express our condolences and solidarity with PTI workers.  We also have to look at the implications of this murder and who could be behind this."

He also expressed concerns at how the incident occurred despite stringent security measures in the area for re-elections  in the constituency in just a few hours.

"We also have to look at the implications of this murder and who could be behind this."

In the same stride, Sattar condemned PTI chief Imran Khan's immediate allegations against Altaf Hussain even before the facts around the incident had become clear.

Shortly after the incident, Imran in a statement said that he held the MQM chief responsible for the death of the PTI leader.

"We think this was a move to malign the character of Altaf Hussain."

Sattar added that this was a petty move on part of the PTI chief. "They [PTI] demonstrated their political immaturity and made a petty move by blaming Altaf Hussain."

"If a series of blame games start then it would make the investigation prejudiced."

The MQM leader condemned Imran's allegations, made before investigations into the murder began, and said that they will now be filing a civil and criminal defamation suit against Imran Khan and a case under  Article 62 and 63 over the Sita White case.

Soon afterwards though, many MQM members protested against the attitude of the Coordination committee, which apologised to the workers after an address by the MQM supremo.

In the telephonic address, Altaf apologised to MQM workers. He complained that some workers were not paying attention to what he was saying.