MQM sector incharge remanded in police custody

He was previously in Rangers custody for three months

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court remanded on Monday a local office-bearer of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in police custody in an explosives case, following the expiry of his 90-day preventive detention in Rangers custody.

Ruknuddin, the incharge of MQM's Landhi sector, was presented before the ATC-I for the second time since his detention. This time, however, a case of possessing explosives was registered against him. Earlier in mid-July, he was brought before the same court by the Rangers to inform the judge of his three months interrogation. He was accused of being involved in targeted killing, extortion, kidnapping and other acts of terrorism.

According to the investigating officer, Ruknuddin helped the law enforcers recover some explosive material that had been hidden in an isolated plot in Sharafi Goth. The recovered material, likely to be used in terrorist activities, was dumped there in a bid to avoid its seizure during the ongoing paramilitary-led targeted operation in the city, the officer added.

On the other hand, the counsel for the accused, Advocate Muhammad Jiwani, a member of MQM's legal aid committee, opposed the suspect's implication, saying that it was a fabricated case. "It is part of a series of the victimisation of MQM leaders, workers and supporters."

The ATC-I judge, Bashir Ahmed Khoso, after listening to both the sides, allowed the police to take the custody of the suspect for two weeks.

Meanwhile, an ATC remanded another MQM worker, Shakil alias Baba, to police for 14 days after he reportedly confessed to killing a man in 2010 during a wave of ethnic violence in the city.

The police told the ATC-II judge that Shakil, during interrogation, revealed that he, in collusion with his absconding accomplices, gunned down a man, identified as Gulfaraz Khan, in Nazimabad. Like Ruknuddin, Shakil was also handed over to police by the Rangers after interrogating him for three months.

Both courts have also directed the police to present reports about the progress in the investigation of the cases at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2015.