SHC seeks Rangers’ response on detention of MQM workers
Police officials claimed they were only assisting the Rangers in the raid
Police officials claimed they were only assisting the Rangers in the raid. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought a reply from the Rangers regarding the detention of 110 workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) after police authorities said their role was to simply assist the paramilitary force during the raid at Nine-Zero.
A division bench directed the Rangers to submit their reply by April 14. The bench was hearing a petition filed by MQM leader, Gulfaraz Khan, against the detention of the party workers, including senior leader Amir Khan, during the March 11 raid by the Rangers on the party’s headquarters.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, West Zone DIG and Azizabad police station SHO filed their comments. They said the Rangers had exclusively conducted the raid on the MQM headquarters in Azizabad on March 11 from where several alleged criminals were arrested and a large cache of arms and ammunitions was seized. The police were there to only assist the Rangers, they added.
The officials said the suspects were produced before the relevant court of law to detain them for 90 days under the provision of the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance. Thereafter, 26 cases were registered under the Section 23-i(A) of the Sindh Arms Act, Sections 4/5 Explosives Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Azizabad police station on the complaint of Rangers officials of the Sachal Wing-73.
The police officials said the accused were remanded by ATC-II until April 9. They added that the investigation was still underway and also produced copies of the FIRs. The officials maintained that no cause of action arose as all the accused persons were arrested in accordance with the law.
The judges observed that the police officials did not mention that why the relatives of the detainees were not being allowed to see them. They asked the petitioner’s lawyer to provide a copy of the plea to the Rangers’ representatives present in the court.
The petitioner had alleged that the law-enforcers had ransacked the party’s headquarters and had also taken away Rs3.5 million.
He claimed that the Rangers had kept the activists in illegal detention and they were also being harassed. The petitioner requested the court to declare their confinement illegal and direct the paramilitary force to produce them in court.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2015.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought a reply from the Rangers regarding the detention of 110 workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) after police authorities said their role was to simply assist the paramilitary force during the raid at Nine-Zero.
A division bench directed the Rangers to submit their reply by April 14. The bench was hearing a petition filed by MQM leader, Gulfaraz Khan, against the detention of the party workers, including senior leader Amir Khan, during the March 11 raid by the Rangers on the party’s headquarters.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, West Zone DIG and Azizabad police station SHO filed their comments. They said the Rangers had exclusively conducted the raid on the MQM headquarters in Azizabad on March 11 from where several alleged criminals were arrested and a large cache of arms and ammunitions was seized. The police were there to only assist the Rangers, they added.
The officials said the suspects were produced before the relevant court of law to detain them for 90 days under the provision of the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance. Thereafter, 26 cases were registered under the Section 23-i(A) of the Sindh Arms Act, Sections 4/5 Explosives Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Azizabad police station on the complaint of Rangers officials of the Sachal Wing-73.
The police officials said the accused were remanded by ATC-II until April 9. They added that the investigation was still underway and also produced copies of the FIRs. The officials maintained that no cause of action arose as all the accused persons were arrested in accordance with the law.
The judges observed that the police officials did not mention that why the relatives of the detainees were not being allowed to see them. They asked the petitioner’s lawyer to provide a copy of the plea to the Rangers’ representatives present in the court.
The petitioner had alleged that the law-enforcers had ransacked the party’s headquarters and had also taken away Rs3.5 million.
He claimed that the Rangers had kept the activists in illegal detention and they were also being harassed. The petitioner requested the court to declare their confinement illegal and direct the paramilitary force to produce them in court.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2015.