Rangers claim: Suspect in Zahra Shahid murder case held

Arrest disclosed a day before SHC to entertain plea of his ‘illegal detention’

KARACHI: The Rangers claimed on Wednesday to have arrested a ‘key suspect’ of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zahra Shahid Hussain’s murder. The announcement came a day before the Sindh High Court (SHC) is scheduled to entertain a petition regarding his alleged illegal detention.

A spokesman for the paramilitary force said a ‘target killer’ named Kaleem was apprehended near Teen Talwar in Clifton. The claim, however, could not be verified independently.

The suspect is said to have been involved in numerous murder cases, including that of PTI leader Zahra, who was shot dead outside her residence in the Defence Housing Authority on May 18, 2013, on the eve of re-polling in the NA-250 constituency.

Zahra was PTI Sindh vice-president and her murder had sparked a wave of political tension in Karachi, as party chief Imran Khan had accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of the killing.

According to MQM lawmaker Syed Ali Raza Abidi, the suspect was arrested some three weeks ago from his shop at Teen Talwar. “His petition is already in court.”

A spokesperson for the party said MQM activist Abdul Kaleem was arrested on February 25 from his shop at the Gulf Shopping Centre in Clifton, while the Rangers claimed that he was arrested on Wednesday from Teen Talwar.

The spokesperson said Kaleem’s mother, Qafia Begum, had submitted a petition in the SHC over his disappearance. A two-member judicial bench was formed to hear the case.

The court’s online database of cases reveals that Kaleem’s case was instituted on February 27, based on a petition filed a day earlier by his mother.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2015.