Shahid Hamid murder case: Magistrate deposes against MQM activist

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate deposed before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) against a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist allegedly involved in the 1997 murder of a high-profile bureaucrat and his driver and guard.

The magistrate told the ATC-V judge tasked with the trial of the triple murder that the suspect Minhaj Qazi had confessed before him to have committed the offence.

The then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation managing director, Shahid Hamid, and his driver and guard were killed in an ambush on their car by armed assailants in Defence on July 5, 1997.

According to the magistrate, Qazi admitted to being part of the assailants’ team who executed the attack. The confession was, however, made in another case pertaining to possession of an illicit weapon, which is said to have been used in the triple murder.

The magistrate appeared before the ATC judge to depose that the confession was not made under duress as he supervised the court’s proceedings. His presence and statement was also needed since the two cases were different.

After recording the testimony, the ATC judge adjourned the hearing till October 24. Meanwhile, the defence counsel, Mushtaq Ahmed, sought time to submit his arguments on a plea filed by him to transfer the case to a regular court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2016.