28 accused, including Amir Khan, remanded in Rangers custody

KARACHI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday remanded 28 MQM activists, including a Rabita Committee member, in the Rangers custody for 90 days for their alleged involvement in target killings and other crimes.
All the blindfolded and handcuffed detainees were brought to the court amid heavy security by the Rangers.Rangers officials told the court that all the accused had been arrested under Section 11-EEEE (an amended provision) of the Anti-Terrorism Act that authorised the law enforcers to detain any suspect for interrogation for 90 days.
When the Rabita Committee member Amir Khan was produced before the judge, he complained that he was the leader of a political party but was rushed to the court handcuffed like a war prisoner and a habitual criminal.
“You have been rushed comfortably, while there was a time during the martial law regime when former prime minister ZA Bhutto was brought to the court in chains with his hands tied on his back,” said the judge.
The defence attorney remarked: “But all this happened during the martial law regime.”Besides Amir Khan, those presented in the court included former MPA Yousuf Buneri, Abdul Aziz, Fahad Fareed, Shujaat Ali Asghar, Muhammad Umer Khan, Suleman Ahmed, Muhammad Aslam Baloch, Muhammad Azam, Khalid Abdur Rasheed, Muhammad Imran, Syed Muhammad Ali, Syed Naim Ali, Hassan Akhtar, Muhammad Yousuf, Mirza Khaleel, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Kamran, Farasat Ali, Muhammad Imran, Nauman Shah, Junaid, Muhammad Haneef, Yousuf, Nauman Aslam, Syed Sabir Ali, Muhammad Irfan and Muhammad Ali.
The court was informed that investigators had solid proof of involvement of the arrested men in target killings and other crimes and they wanted to investigate them.
The court endorsed the detention and interrogation of the arrested men for 90 days. All the detainees, arrested during a raid on Nine Zero on Wednesday, are being kept at the Karachi Central Jail for interrogation.
It was said that Amir Khan was not arrested during the raid and he and others, who were not found guilty, would be freed soon; however, no one was freed and instead they were produced in the ATC.It is said most of the detainees were involved in criminal cases and they would be interrogated by a joint interrogation team (JIT).
The Rangers had claimed to have apprehended nearly half-a-dozen target killers, including Faisal Mehmood alias Mota, who had been condemned to death by a court for his involvement in the murder of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar.
MQM Rabita Committee member Amir Khan, Nadir Shah who was sentenced to 13-year imprisonment, Farhan Shabbir alias Mullah, Amir, Ubaid alias K-2 and Nooruddin Subhani are among the accused who have been detained for their involvement in targeted killings.
They were arrested during a series of targeted raids in the adjoining areas of Nine-Zero on Wednesday. Later, three MQM workers — Pervez Alam, Khurram and Azeem — were handed over to the Azizabad police, as no evidence of criminal activities was found against them and it was declared that they would be released after completion of legal formalities.