Under investigation: MQM workers sent to judicial custody by ATC
The suspects were arrested during the Rangers' raid at Nine-Zero
The suspects were arrested during the Rangers' raid at Nine-Zero. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
Around a dozen workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), detained during the March 11 raid at the party's headquarters, Nine Zero, were sent to jail on judicial remand by anti-terrorism courts (ATC) in cases of murder, possession of illicit weapons and explosives.
A group of 10 suspects — Ubaid Khursheed alias K2, Faizan, Sajid, Noman, Zubair alias Burger, Naeem alias Guddu, Taufiq, Rizwan, Haseeb and Asif — was presented before the ATC-II judge, who had given their police remand a day after their arrest. The judge, since then, had been on leave and the suspects' cases were being heard by an incharge judge.
The police, having had the suspects' custody for at least three weeks, submitted challans against six of them. The challans contained the same contention as earlier that they were found to be in possession of unlicensed weapons and explosives at Nine-Zero. For the remaining challans, the police sought more time.
The judge, approving the prosecution's plea, remanded the suspects back to jail till May 6. She also directed the investigation officers to submit the final investigation reports at the next hearing.
Among the aforementioned suspects, Ubaid and Naeem are facing murder charges too. Since his arrest, Ubaid has been implicated in a number of murder cases including that of former jailor, Amanullah Khan Niazi.
Separately, three other MQM workers, Amir Ali alias Sir Phatta, Amir Khan alias Totla and Abdul Qadir Hangoro, were also remanded in murder cases.
Ali, a former sector incharge of the party, was remanded by ATC-III for allegedly murdering an elderly political rival, Jumma Khan, over a confrontation on putting up barriers in the streets in Garden in 2012. According to the prosecution, he has also made some gruesome revelations into the attack on a Muhabbat-i-Sindh rally the same year. "The orders to attack the rally were given by the then KTC chief, Hammad Siddiqi," he was quoted as saying in the investigation report. At least six people were killed and 22 others, including policemen, were wounded in the incident as the rally was ambushed near the city courts.
The same court also sent Hangoro to jail. He is accused of killing a policeman and some workers of the Pakistan Muslim League - Functional in Agra Taj Colony.
All the suspects have been sent to jail till May 6 except Khan whose physical remand was extended by ATC-I in a five-year-old murder case of a Muhajir Qaumi Movement activist, Rizwan.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2015.
Around a dozen workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), detained during the March 11 raid at the party's headquarters, Nine Zero, were sent to jail on judicial remand by anti-terrorism courts (ATC) in cases of murder, possession of illicit weapons and explosives.
A group of 10 suspects — Ubaid Khursheed alias K2, Faizan, Sajid, Noman, Zubair alias Burger, Naeem alias Guddu, Taufiq, Rizwan, Haseeb and Asif — was presented before the ATC-II judge, who had given their police remand a day after their arrest. The judge, since then, had been on leave and the suspects' cases were being heard by an incharge judge.
The police, having had the suspects' custody for at least three weeks, submitted challans against six of them. The challans contained the same contention as earlier that they were found to be in possession of unlicensed weapons and explosives at Nine-Zero. For the remaining challans, the police sought more time.
The judge, approving the prosecution's plea, remanded the suspects back to jail till May 6. She also directed the investigation officers to submit the final investigation reports at the next hearing.
Among the aforementioned suspects, Ubaid and Naeem are facing murder charges too. Since his arrest, Ubaid has been implicated in a number of murder cases including that of former jailor, Amanullah Khan Niazi.
Separately, three other MQM workers, Amir Ali alias Sir Phatta, Amir Khan alias Totla and Abdul Qadir Hangoro, were also remanded in murder cases.
Ali, a former sector incharge of the party, was remanded by ATC-III for allegedly murdering an elderly political rival, Jumma Khan, over a confrontation on putting up barriers in the streets in Garden in 2012. According to the prosecution, he has also made some gruesome revelations into the attack on a Muhabbat-i-Sindh rally the same year. "The orders to attack the rally were given by the then KTC chief, Hammad Siddiqi," he was quoted as saying in the investigation report. At least six people were killed and 22 others, including policemen, were wounded in the incident as the rally was ambushed near the city courts.
The same court also sent Hangoro to jail. He is accused of killing a policeman and some workers of the Pakistan Muslim League - Functional in Agra Taj Colony.
All the suspects have been sent to jail till May 6 except Khan whose physical remand was extended by ATC-I in a five-year-old murder case of a Muhajir Qaumi Movement activist, Rizwan.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2015.