ATC indicts five in Dua Mangi kidnapping case

Witness identifies seven implicated in hate speech cases registered against MQM

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) indicted on Saturday five men accused in the Dua Mangi kidnapping.

The accused, Zohaib Qureshi, Muhammad Tariq alias Shakeel, Muzaffar Ali, Waseem Raja and Fayyaz Solangi rejected the charges levelled against them in the indictment. The ATC court thereafter issued notices to the investigation officer (IO) and the witnesses, and summoned the witnesses on the next hearing on January 25 and adjourned the case.

According to police, the accused kidnapped Mangi from Defence Housing Authority and her father paid Rs2.5m to the kidnappers for her release.

Hate speech cases

An ATC adjourned the hearing of two cases pertaining to ant-state slogans, provocative speech and terrorism after the witness identified seven accused. Muttahida Qaumi Movement- Pakistan leaders Amir Khan, Dr Farooq Sattar and Shahid Pasha were present in court for the hearing which was held in Central Jail Karachi.

The main witness in the case, Inspector Shabbir Haider identified seven accused including Waseem Saleem, Altaf Hussain, Farhan, Hassan Raza, Intekhab Haider, Zulfiqar and Asif Siddiqi, during the identity parade.

Inspector Haider stated before the court that a provocative speech was made on August 22, 2016 by the MQM founder, after which the accused resorted to vandalism in the jurisdictions of Saddar and Artillery Maidan police stations. He added that earlier he had identified the accused before a judicial magistrate.

The court directed the lawyers to continue cross-examination of the witness statement on the next hearing and adjourned the hearing till February 13.

Arrest warrant

In another case pertaining to kidnapping, the ATC declared a person identified as Mansoor, an absconder in the kidnapping of Bisma Saleem for ransom in 2019. The court also issued an arrest warrant of Mansoor.

The Investigation Officer presented a report regarding Mansoor. He informed the court that the process of declaring Mansoor an absconder in the case had been completed.

According to police, the accused, Mansoor and his accomplices identified as Qureshi, alias Shakeel, Ali and Solangi kidnapped Bisma from DHA and released her after extorting a ransom from her family.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2021.