Housed at the central prison, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday handed down 14-year imprisonment to a suspected target killer of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Ubaid-ur-Rehman alias Ubaid K2, in a case pertaining to possession of illegal arms and explosive material.
The court also ordered confiscating the movable and immovable properties owned by Ubaid K2. The accused was produced before the court where the judge heard the arguments put forward by the state attorneys and the defence lawyers. The court concluded that the prosecution had succeeded to prove its case that illegal weapons, including rocket launchers, were found in the suspect’s possession. Subsequently, the court sentenced Ubaid K2 14 years in prison.
The convict was arrested from the MQM headquarters, Nine Zero, on March 11, 2915 when the paramilitary soldiers had raided the party’s headquarters and adjoining areas to arrest a number of MQM workers who were in hiding over there. Ubaid is alleged to have been involved in several murders. During the detention he had disclosed to have concealed a huge arms cache at the APWA College and consequently a huge quantity of illegal arms, rocket launchers and other explosives were recovered from the college’s ground after digging the ground.
Ubaid is said to have confessed to killing several police officers and cops who once had play an important part in operation during 1990s. However, he has recently been acquitted from some of the murder cases.
According to a police report, Ubaid K2 with the help of his associates and police officers had targeted two policemen, Mohammed Rehan and Nisar Ahmed, when they were heading to Crime Branch. Tauseef who was appointed in Jamshed Town police station at that time, had provided information to Ubaid K-2 about the said policemen.
As per the report, Ubaid K2 ambushed and killed both the policemen near the Bundu Khan Restaurant on MA Jinnah Road. Arrested by Sharifabad police in 2000, Ubaid K2 had admitted killing the two police officers.
The Soldier Bazar police station’s investigating officer, Gul Faraz, also interrogated the accused, but the interrogation officer removed the report, it was alleged.
At a hearing before the ATC, an eyewitness against Ubaid K2 had told the court that he had seen the accused killing the two policemen by opening fire at them in front of Ali Raza Imambargah located in the area of Numaish in 2000.
The witness underlined that the two policemen were among those cops who had took part in the ‘Karachi Operation’ in the past. The witness claimed that the two policemen were killed by Ubaid K2 and his companions in the limits of Solder Bazar police station.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge (East), who conducted hearing in a court, had found Ubaid K2 innocent in the murder case of a friend of the then central prison superintendent, Pir Shabbir Sarhandi.
The court in its verdict observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges of attacking Pir Shabbir Sarhandi and killing his friend Faheem Farooqui. The prosecution had claimed that Ubaid K2 along with another accused, Sajid Khan, had targeted Sarhandi and his friend Faheem Farooqui in October 2005. Faheem Faroqui was killed in this incident.
Ubaid K2 was also found innocent in the murder case of the central prison superintendent, Amanullah Khan Niazi, and five other policemen.
But an eyewitness had identified Ubaid K2 as an attacker before a judicial a magistrate. However, the prosecution as a whole failed to present any sound proofs against Ubaid K2 and three other MQM workers – Saeed alias Saeed Bharam, Tanveer Chand and Chaudhry Sajjad – were acquitted in the murder case of former Amanullah Khan Niazi and five other policemen.
The same court has already acquitted two accused, Abu Irfan and Faisal Khawaja, on the grounds that they were proved innocent. As many as 10 accused are absconding and they have already been declared by the trial court as proclaimed offenders. Those declared proclaimed offenders included Noman alias Nomi, Zahid alias Zahid Kala, Farhan alias Farhan Kala, Jamal Pasra, Hashim, Yaseen, Shafique, Ishtiaq alias Police-Wala, Javed Hassan and Aneesur Rehman alias Ali and others.