Charge sheet against Minhaj Qazi nominates MQM chief, convener as accused

Karachi

A charge sheet presented against a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist Muhammad Minhaj Qazi alias Asad before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the murder of the then managing director of defunct Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) Shahid Hamid has nominated MQM Chief Altaf Hussain and convener Nadeem Nusrat as accused.

According to the charge sheet submitted in the ATC concerned, under-detention accused Minhaj Qazi alias Asad has claimed that Shahid Hamid was killed on the directives of MQM chief Altaf Hussain and another senior leader Nadeem Nusrat.

The then KESC managing director, his driver and a guard were killed on July 5, 1997, in the Defence Housing Authority. An anti-terrorism court in 1999 awarded the death penalty to an MQM worker Saulat Ali Khan alias Saulat Mirza who was finally hanged on May 12, 2015, in the Machh jail in Balochistan.

According to the prosecution, the then SHO of Gulbahar police station, Mohammad Aslam Khan popularly known as Chaudhry Aslam, had arrested Saulat Mirza in December 1998 at the Karachi airport. During investigation, Mirza had confessed about killing the former KESC chief and had revealed the names of his accomplices.

The prosecution alleged that the offence was carried out to avenge the removal of MQM supporters from the KESC by the victim.

After 19 years of the murder, another co-accused Muhammad Minhaj Qazi alias Asad was recently arrested by the law-enforcement agencies. He was produced before a judicial magistrate concerned on May 14 when the widow and son of deceased Shahid Hamid identified him among several suspects as one of the shooters involved in the murder.

During the identification parade, suspect Minhaj Qazi informed the magistrate that he had been subjected to torture and claimed that he had not even been allowed to change his clothes since his detention in February.

He also contested the identification parade and said his photographs were being showed on private television channels almost on a daily basis and anyone could easily identify him. However, the magistrate interrupted him and told him that he could raise this issue before the trial court.

Minhaj Qazi was arrested by the Rangers on February 3. He was produced before an ATC concerned on May 14 that endorsed the apprehension order for 90-day preventive detention for interrogation over his alleged involvement in terrorism cases.

Later, he was handed over to the police who formally arrested him in the Shahid Hamid murder case while obtaining remand from the ATC concerned.

In the charge sheet submitted against Minhaj Qazi, it has been claimed that the accused has confessed about killing Shahid Hamid , his driver and guard.

Judicial Magistrate South Anees Rehman Buriro conducted the identification parade on May 14 during which the widow of the deceased Shahnaz Hamid (who herself served as a bureaucrat) and son Omar Shahid Hamid (a police officer by profession) deposed before the court that Minhaj Qazi was one of the four hitmen who carried out the killing.

The two witnesses while describing details of the murder said that on July 5, 1997, they had heard gunshots shortly after Hamid had left his house for office. The two witnesses further said the moment they came out they saw four men firing at Hamid’s car with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

They had also identified Saulat Mirza who was executed on May 12, 2015.

Both eyewitnesses recalled that Shahid Hamid had been working against corruption and was reorganising the power utility, and this was why some people had been against his efforts. The two claimed that since the MQM had a powerful role in the then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, the representatives of the workers’ union along with a few MQM ministers had teamed up against the deceased.

They went on to say that several MQM leaders including Dr Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, Nasreen Jalil and her husband had extended threats to Shahid Hamid.

According to them, Dr Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar and Shoaib Bukhari had also insulted deceased Hamid during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House.

It may be mentioned that the same charges have also surfaced on prime time television by the widow and son of deceased Shahid Hamid during different talk shows. However Dr Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar and other leaders have denied the charges, terming them as baseless.

The son and the widow of deceased Shahid Hamid claimed that the opponents wanted to remove Shahid Hamid from the post as they considered him a risk and finally he was assassinated.