MQM leaders threatened my father before he was murdered: Omar Shahid

Says record shows Saulat Mirza contacted MQM’s London office after killing his father, KESC MD Shahid Hamid

KARACHI: The son of slain Managing Director of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) Shahid Hamid has alleged that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders, including Farooq Sattar and Nasreen Jalil, had warned his father over not taking action against ‘corrupt MQM members’ present in the KESC.

In an interview to a private news channel on Monday night, Omar Shahid claimed that whenever his father tried to perform his duty honestly and took action against these ‘mafias’, someone from the MQM, either a minister or leader, would threaten him against doing so.

"A series of threats continued for months when my father was posted as MD KESC and he used to share the details of each and every incident with me and my mother," he said. "The minute we learnt that my father had been murdered, we had no doubt about who was behind his killing."

Read: ATC issues death warrants for Saulat Mirza

Omar, who is also the former head of Karachi's CID, argued that contrary to the MQM’s claims that his father was anti-Muhajir, he was just an honest government officer, willing to do good work for the KESC and for Karachi.

"My father was carrying out action against corrupt workers in KESC," he said, giving the reason behind the MQM leaders’ threats to his father right before he was murdered.

He said five people other than Saulat Mirza, including Altaf Hussain, were named in the FIR of his father’s murder but since they were not present in Pakistan, legal proceedings could not be initiated against them.

“Rais, Athar, along with Saulat Mirza, were part of the hit-team that murdered my father whereas the MQM chief and party’s London Secretariat also had a direct link in the case,” he said.

Read: 30-day delay: Saulat Mirza escapes the noose again

Omar said that according to his information, two hit-team members fled to South Africa to take charge of the MQM unit there while one of them was killed in a bank robbery in Lahore a few years go.

Saulat contacted MQM London office after murder

Omar also revealed that the "first phone call made from Mirza’s phone after the incident was to the then office of the MQM's international secretariat in London."

He went on to request the government not to delay the execution of Mirza, as the case was being closely watched by other terrorists to gauge state power.

“…Its postponement will only encourage other terrorists,” he said, adding that it was extremely important when one is trying to end terrorism in Karachi and the rest of the country.

He added that the MQM had often put pressure on him and his family to show some “flexibility” in the case and let Mirza go free.

"According to our information, they tried for president's powers to pardon a convict," he said.

Mirza was awarded the death sentence for murdering Shahid Hamid along with his driver and guard on July 5, 1997.

A video statement by him was aired on news channels on March 19, hours before his execution, which was subsequently stayed. In this statement, Mirza blamed MQM chief Altaf Hussain, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and other party leaders for using him in criminal activities, including the targeted killing of Hamid.