Court trial: Policeman testifies in MQM MPA’s murder case

MPA Raza Haider was shot dead on August 2, 2010 in North Nazimabad along with his gunman.

KARACHI:

A police officer testified in the murder trial of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Raza Haider on Monday. The trial is currently ongoing at Central Jail and is being heard by the Anti-Terrorism Court-I. Monday was the first day of the official proceedings.

Haider was shot dead on August 2, 2010 in North Nazimabad along with his gunman.

On June 4, three men – Waseem Ahmed, Mohammad Abdullah and Hafiz Ikhlaq – were formally charged by the ATC-I with the alleged murder of Haider.

The officer who testified on Monday had been tasked at the time with writing the First Information Report (FIR). He told the court that he had gone to the hospital and examined the body. Haider’s relatives had told him at the time that they would register an FIR in two or three days after they had consulted with members of the MQM.

The officer, a police sub-inspector, testified in court that the FIR stated that Haider had been receiving threats a few days before he was shot dead, allegedly from the Awami National Party (ANP). Scores of people were killed in the aftermath of Haider’s murder as violence spread throughout Karachi.

The FIR 659/2010 was filed under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that deal with murder and attempted murder, as well as section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The men were charged in June under sections 7-A, 7-B and 7-C of the ATA, which deal with the punishments for an act of terrorism that causes or attempts to cause the death of a person and grievous harm. The men were also charged with murder and attempted murder according to the PPC. The case will next be heard on July 21.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2012.