In detention: Rangers to grill target killing suspect for 90 days

MQM claims he is their party associate, not a dangerous criminal.

KARACHI: The Rangers informed an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday about keeping a suspect in their custody for 90 days to grill him over his alleged involvement in target killings, extortion and other acts of terrorism.

The suspect was identified as Abdur Rafiq alias Kaein and he was brought to court by officials from the Ghazi wing of the Rangers. He was produced before ATC-III Judge Saleem Raza Baloch.

The law enforcers said that they had arrested the suspect during a raid conducted on a tip-off in Mehmoodabad. They claimed that they had received 'credible' information against the suspect for his involvement in deteriorating the city's law and order situation.

While talking to The Express Tribune, his defence counsel said that the suspect was being falsely implicated in these cases and his arrest was a violation of basic human rights.

The court was, however, informed that the suspect will be interrogated for three months under Section 11EEEE (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act and will be kept in a special cell at Karachi Central Jail.

Meanwhile on Sunday, a Rangers spokesperson issued a statement claiming that they had arrested a man who identified himself as a bank employee and sector in-charge of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. The Rangers said that he had confessed to his involvement in the riots on May 12, 2007 which left at least 40 people dead and more than a hundred injured. The suspect was also accused of sheltering and providing weapons to target killers of different groups operating in the city.

In the report submitted to the court, however, the suspect's political affiliation and involvement in the May 12 riots was not mentioned.

The MQM's Rabita Committee has identified the suspect as a party associate but have rejected the allegations being made against him. In a press conference held on Monday, MQM leader Amir Khan said that Rafiq was a respectable man, not a dangerous criminal.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2015.