Two suspects indicted in 15-year-old policemen murder case

The accused were arrested when Rangers raided MQM headquarters on March 11 this year

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court indicted on Saturday two alleged target killers, belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), in a 15-year-old murder case of two police officers.

Party workers Ubaid Khursheed alias K2, Nadir Shah and their absconding accomplices were charged with allegedly killing two sub-inspectors, Muhammad Rehan and Muhammad Nisar, in March 2000 in Soldier Bazaar.

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According to the prosecution, the two officers had also participated in the two-year-long military-led operation in Karachi, which the MQM had claimed solely targeted them. The policemen were part of the teams of Chaudhry Aslam, who was killed in a bomb attack on his convoy, and Sarwar Commando, one of the few surviving officers who were involved in the operation.

According to the complainant, who is Rehan's brother, the officer was receiving threats from the accused persons for taking part in the operation. The accused were named in the FIR at the time of its registration but the investigators failed to arrest them for more than a decade as they remained absconding. The case was kept dormant as no arrests were made.

However, the two suspects were taken into custody when Rangers raided Nine Zero, the MQM headquarters, on March 11 this year.

Khursheed and Shah were remanded in the case on April 6 and in the following week were identified as alleged assailants by a witness before a judicial magistrate. Their absconding accomplices, Asif alias Dandan, Javed Shahpuri, Abid alias Miru, Shahid, Javed Akhtar Siddiqi and others still remain at large.

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During the hearing on Saturday, the suspects denied that they committed the murder. The accused said that they were falsely implicated in the case and their attorneys submitted to contest the case in later stages.

The court formally took cognuisance of the case, indicting the suspects arrested as well as those who are on the run. The court also summoned witnesses to record their statements in the case in the first week of November.

The case was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 at Solider Bazaar police station. The charges can lead to death sentence or to life imprisonment if found guilty.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2015.