ATC issues non-bailable arrest warrants for absconders in Dr Asim Hussain case

Warrants have been issued for PPP, MQM and Pasban-e-Pakistan leaders

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for absconders in Pakistan Peoples Party leader Dr Asim Hussain's facilitation case.

Warrants were issued for Muttahida Qaumi Moverment’s Waseem Akhtar, Anis Qaimkhani and Saleem Shahzad, along with Pakistan Peoples Party’s Qadir Patel and general secretary of Pasban-e-Pakistan, Usman Moazzam.



Dr Asim was produced before ATC-II judge by the police, during which the judge expressed anger for not informing the court about the absconders. However, soon after the court adjourned the case till January 6 as the prosecution documents were not complete.

Earlier the ATC rejected the police investigation report clearing the former minister of terrorism charges and ordered his re-arrest for a trial in an anti-terrorism court (ATC).

Sindh High Court’s Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, who oversees the ATCs, discarded the report observing there was sufficient evidence against Dr Asim. He then ordered the suspect to be presented before the ATC-II.



Dr Asim, chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission and a friend of former president Asif Ali Zardari, is facing charges of abetting and harbouring terrorists at his family-owned hospitals in Karachi.

After spending 90 days in the custody of paramilitary Rangers, who detained him on August 26, he was handed over to the Karachi police for further interrogation. The police, however, relieved him of the charges and got him released, sparking a tussle between the federal and provincial governments.