MQM demands release of remaining four men

KARACHI:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has demanded the prime minister, army chief and chief justice to take notice of the detention of young men by Rangers personnel. "Four of the men are still in the custody of the Rangers. They should be released and action should be taken against their detention," said the press statement issued by the Rabita Committee.

The four are among the 13 young men who went missing on Tuesday night. While nine returned home on Wednesday, four continue to be in detention, of which two, Shayan and Waleed, are workers of the MQM. The party's Rabita Committee, in a press statement, said that despite two days having passed, the Rangers have yet to produce the men in court or announce their arrests. "The Rangers are giving an impression that the men have been kidnapped instead of claiming that they have held them in their custody."

Read: SHC orders IG Sindh and DG Rangers to submit report of missing MQM workers

The 13 men, hailing from Noman Grand City apartments in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, were on their  way to attend a friend's wedding in Hyderabad, when they were picked up by the law enforcement agencies. Raheel, the brother of one of the detained workers, Shayan, appealed for his whereabouts. "We don't know where he is.  My mother keeps thinking about him and crying." The 24-year-old worked in the administration department of Biztek, and has a diploma in electronics.

Read: Hardened criminal?: MQM worker remanded in murder case

Raheel said that if being in politics was the only crime for the detention of his brother, then the whole country should be imprisoned as every other person was affiliated with a political party.

Meanwhile, the Rabita Committee called for his immediate release, saying that the men were being tortured in custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2015.