SHC rejects appeal of convicted target killer

Accused has confessed to attacking Sindh Secretariat, police head office and murdering lawyers

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected on Monday the appeal of a target killer affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) against the punishment awarded to him over the murder of an MQM-Haqeeqi worker, Syed Abrar Hussain.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Justice Amjad Ali Setho rejected the appeal of accused, Saeed Bharam.

The trial court had awarded life imprisonment to Bharam. The confessional statement of the accused has also been submitted in the court.

According to the police, the accused has also confessed to attacking the Sindh Secretariat and police head office in Garden and murdering multiple lawyers among other people. MQM's Dr Nadeem Nusrat, Farooq Sattar, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Muhammad Anwar and several others issued orders for these acts.



In a phone call in the years 2005 and 2006, Muhammad Anwar said that MQM founder, Altaf Hussain, had ordered the formation of a team to kill his opponents. Several steps for inciting chaos, arson and target killing were taken.

According to the Rangers' prosecutor, Sajid Mehboob Sheikh, a special ATC had awarded life imprisonment to Bharam. There was concrete evidence against the accused. The murder case was registered on October 1, 2009 at Nabi Bux Police station.

Arguments sought

The high court sought arguments from the Sindh advocate-general in the plea pertaining to making public the joint investigation team (JIT) reports of Baldia factory fire, former Fishermen Cooperative Society chairperson Nisar Morai and Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Shamsudin Abbasi heard the arguments presented by the counsel for the petitioner, Umer Soomro.

The counsel argued that the Sindh government sought help from the federal government to ascertain the reason behind the crimes committed by Baloch and Morai and the reasons behind the Baldia tragedy. Members of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) were part of the JIT. Soomro alleged that the Sindh government was intentionally hiding information regarding these heinous crimes. More than 250 people were burnt alive in the Baldia factory fire, he said, adding that it reflected negatively on the country's image.

He further said that Baloch turned Lyari into a war zone where police officers were also involved in the murders and crimes. Soomro said that the placement of these very officers in positions of power in the city was an ominous sign for law and order. He alleged that the chief secretary wants to protect the accused.

The minister claimed that Morai had spilled the beans about the involvement of senior politicians in the murder of seven people during his questioning by the JIT. He reiterated that right to information is the right of every citizen and thus the report should be made public. He added that when his client, federal minister Ali Zaidi, filed the petition he was a common citizen. After completion of arguments, the court sought arguments from the Sindh Advocate-General Salman Talib on August 5.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2019.