Meanwhile, the federal government has already extended by a month the execution of Saulat Mirza.
As questions surrounding death-row inmate Saulat Mirza’s allegations grew shriller and more pointed, the federal government asked the authorities in Sindh to form a powerful committee to investigate his charges against senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders.
The centre is seeking a fair probe into Saulat Mirza’s shocking revelations in his March 19 video recorded statement, which went on air hours before his execution. Mirza implicated several high-ups of the MQM in the targeted killings carried out in Karachi, said interior ministry officials on Tuesday. Mirza’s hanging was immediately stopped in the wake of the allegations. “A high-powered committee, to be formed by the Sindh government, will assess whether the allegations levelled by Mirza have substantial grounds or not,” a senior official of the ministry of interior told The Express Tribune.
The committee is likely to consist of officials from Pakistan Rangers, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Sindh police, he explained. “At the initial stage, it will determine when and who filmed Mirza’s statement, the official said.
Next, he said, the committee will question a few leaders of the MQM whose names were mentioned by Saulat Mirza. Already, the National Counter Terrorism Authority has recommended that the interior ministry place their names on the Exit Control List, he added.
After recording the statement of Saulat Mirza, the committee will also question his family members as well as some other individuals, if there is any need to do so, he explained.
To determine the committee’s mandate is the job of the provincial government, he said, adding that the Rangers will play its important role in the whole process. The decision to write to the Sindh government was taken after Sindh Rangers requested the interior ministry’s to probe Saulat Mirza’s revelations, he added.
Another senior official of the interior ministry revealed that Interior Secretary Shahid Khan wrote the letter on the directions of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who said, “Sindh Rangers should grab all the information from condemned prisoner Saulat which could be helpful in wiping out criminals from Karachi.”
Last month, the Balochistan government also formed a committee to investigate where his statement was filmed as officials denied that the video was filmed in the Mach central jail. But later it was scrapped without explanation by Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti.
Meanwhile, the federal government has already extended by a month the execution of Saulat Mirza. President Mamnoon Hussain, on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, extended the date of his hanging from March 19 to March 30 and then from April 1 to April 30.
Moreover, a team of FIA is also investigating the case of Shafqat Hussain, a condemned prisoner, who was also given a one-month extension by the president last month. The team is determining facts pertaining to his correct age.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2015.
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