Soomro murder case to be transferred to military court

Adviser to CM on Legal Affairs Murtaza Wahab says letter will be written to interior ministry

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to transfer the murder case of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh former general secretary Khalid Mehmood Soomro to a military court.

Soomro was gunned down by armed men while offering Fajr prayers at Jamia Haqania in Sukkur's Gulshan-i-Iqbal on November 19, 2014. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has approved a summary seeking transfer of the case to a military court and a letter will be written to the interior ministry this regard, Adviser to Sindh CM on Legal Affairs Murtaza Wahab told The Express Tribune on Thursday.



Wahab further said the government had been negotiating with the JUI-F leadership on the issue and hoped the party would not stage a sit-in. The party has been demanding the transfer of the case to a military court for a long time and has staged several protests in this regard.

In January this year, the Sukkur bench of Sindh High Court had asked for comments from secretaries of the home and law departments in connection with the case. The division bench composed of Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Ghulam Qadir Laghari combined two applications filed by the defence and prosecution for and against the case being transferred to a military court.

The bench had ordered an anti-terrorism court to not proceed with the case till the matter [of whether to send the case to the military court] had been decided in addition to ordering the home and law secretaries to file written comments at the next hearing.

JUI-F takes out rally in Karachi

Meanwhile, a large number of JUI-F activists took out a rally at Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road on Thursday, demanding transfer of Soomro murder case to a military court.

The participants of the rally staged a sit-in at the Tibet Centre when police did not let them move towards Sindh CM’ House. The sit-in caused massive gridlocks in the adjoining areas of the MA Jinnah Road, including Saddar, Soldier Bazar, Guru Mandir, Garden and Old City area.