Police get custody of five MQM-L men in decade-old terrorism case

Karachi’s anti-terrorism court has sent five Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London activists into police custody in a terrorism case that dates back to 2016, according to a monitored public feed based on reporting by Dawn.

The suspects — Syed Hameed Pasha, Muhammad Tehseen, Muhammad Umer, Mirza Waseem and Afaq Alam — were brought before the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts after the investigating officer sought their physical remand for questioning. The court granted the request and ordered that they remain in police custody until July 25, while directing the officer to submit a progress report at the next hearing.

The case was originally registered at Brigade police station on May 12, 2016, when the MQM had not yet split into MQM-Pakistan and MQM-London. It names party founder Altaf Hussain and others and centres on allegations that party activists gathered without permission, blocked Shahrah-i-Quaideen in front of the gate of the Mazar-i-Quaid, and raised anti-government slogans.

According to the investigating officer, the gathering allegedly took place near the Quaid’s mausoleum and was meant to stir public sentiment. He told the court that some senior party figures were arrested at the time, while a much larger number of unidentified activists — described as between 1,000 and 1,200 — fled from the area.

The five men were arrested on June 11 in connection with a pro-Altaf rally on I.I. Chundrigar Road. They were later released on bail, but were picked up again and implicated in the older terrorism case. The remand order adds a fresh layer to a dispute that has remained alive in the courts for years after the original FIR was filed.

The court’s decision means investigators will now have additional time to interrogate the men and pursue the long-running case. No further details were given in the feed about the evidence or the defence response during the hearing.

This report is based on a monitored public feed and attributes the underlying reporting to Dawn Pakistan.

Source: Dawn Pakistan - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017376/police-get-custody-of-five-mqm-l-men-in-decade-old-terrorism-case