SC gives 24-hour deadline to arrest Manzar Imam's killers

There is no guarantee of life for the common man if culprits not arrested, says Justice Chaudhry.

ISLAMABAD: While hearing the Karachi unrest case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan gave a 24-hour deadline to arrest the murderers of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Manzar Imam and his guards, Express News reported Tuesday.

Heading a three-member bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that all officials were indulging in luxuries. He said that if the murderers of Imam and his guards were not arrested, then there was no guarantee of life for the common man.

The advocate general Sindh informed the court that a nine-member inquiry team had been constituted to probe and arrest the culprits.

The apex court inquired how Ajmal Pahari and Kamran Madhuri were acquitted. Justice Chaudhry sought a report explaining their acquittal.

Pahari, arrested for his alleged involvement in more than a hundred cases of target killings in Karachi was released from Central Jail, Karachi on Friday.

On January 17, armed men on motorcycles shot dead the MQM legislator, along with his driver and two security guards, in the Orangi Town neighbourhood of Karachi.

Investigators told The Express Tribune that in August 2010, Imam had closely coordinated with law-enforcement agencies in arresting the LeJ militants involved in Haider’s assassination – Waseem, aka Waseem Barodi, and Abdullah, aka Taimoor.

Police have registered an FIR against six unidentified people on the complaint of Mazhar Imam, Imam’s brother.