MQM-Pakistan chief Farooq Sattar briefly detained

Veteran leader was taken into custody from PAF Museum, Shahrah-e-Faisal

KARACHI: In a not-so-surprising move, the police during wee hours of Saturday detained Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Pakistan head Farooq Sattar for an hour or so.

An Anti-Terrorism Court had issued on Friday non-bailable arrest warrants for Sattar and other MQM leaders as they are wanted in more than a dozen cases, including the August 22 violent attack on a media house in which a person was killed and several others were injured.

Sattar was picked up in a raid from near the PAF Museum on Shahra-e-Faisal, MQM spokesperson Aminul Haq claimed.

Sattar's coordinator Kashif also claimed that Sattar was taken to a police station in Lyari.

However, when contacted the spokesperson for the Chief Minister (CM) House denied that the police had arrested Sattar.

"As ATC had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against him, police went to arrest him, but he managed to escape from the scene," the spokesperson said, while referring to an initial report of the police submitted to the CM.

The spokesperson said police have no other option but to arrest him.

After being released from the police custody, Sattar, while addressing a press briefing, said, “I was returning after attending a wedding when the police took me into custody. I was released after an hour of questioning.”

Addressing the briefing, he also demanded the release of his party workers in the August 22 case.

It is pertinent to mention that most of the cases against MQM leaders are related to the alleged hate speech by Altaf given over the past two years on different occasions.