Inquiry committee formed to probe death of SIC leader

Tariq Mehboob's death in custody led to protests by the Sunni Ittehad Council

KARACHI: An inquiry committee has been constituted to probe the cause behind the death of Anjuman Naujwanan-i-Islam (ANI) chief and a senior leader of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Tariq Mehboob.

SIC leader Tariq Mehboob, who was arrested from his residence last week, was remanded to Rangers' custody for 90 days on April 16 under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He was accused of providing refuge to target killers in Karachi. On Saturday, he died during custody at Karachi Central Jail allegedly from being tortured.

His killing sparked protests as the family and the party blamed the authorities for giving him 'third-degree torture'. The family and a score of workers and sympathisers of various religious organisations belonging to the Barelvi school of thought including the SIC, ANI and Sunni Tehreek staged a protest on MA Jinnah Road on Sunday. The police also charged the protesters with batons after the protesters tried to march towards Chief Minister House.

After a 12-hour-long sit-in, Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui and Karachi AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo met the protesters and assured them of their full cooperation. Following the successful negotiations, the protesters ended their protest.

The police officials, however, now constituted the inquiry committee to probe the case. East zone police chief DIG Munir Shaikh will head the inquiry committee with District East Investigations SSP Zulfiqar Maher and SSP Pir Muhammad Shah as members. The committee will investigate the facts behind the mysterious death of the SIC leader and will submit the report within three days.

Laid to rest

Meanwhile, the deceased SIC leader, Mehboob, was laid to rest on Monday evening after his funeral prayers were offered at Sharae Pakistan near Ancholi Society after Maghrib prayers. Mehboob was then buried at the Sakhi Hassan graveyard.

"We had demanded that we will not bury him until the second post-mortem is complete," said Nusrat Mehboob, the victim's younger brother. "But the administration was using delaying tactics and we could not hold his body any longer." Nusrat said they have no hope of justice from the authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2015.