Pasban leader among four indicted for harbouring terrorists

MQM activist Ahsan alias Chunnu Mamu, others declared POs in land grabbing case 

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday indicted four men accused of harbouring terrorists, including Pakistan Pasban General Secretary Usman Moazzam.

However, the four accused – Usman Moazzam, Dr Akmal Waheed, Muhammad Siddiqui and Ubaidur Rehman – denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The court has fixed April 8 to hear the evidence of the prosecution witnesses.

The investigation officer (IO) was ordered to produce the witnesses before the court on the next hearing so the court could record statements against the accused.

Usman Moazzam is also being tried in another terror case as being a co-accused with former federal minister Dr Asim Hussian, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, former minister Rauf Siddiqui, Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Anis Qaimkhani, former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Saleem Shehzad, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Abdul Qadir Patel and others.

He and other co-accused are alleged to have assisted Dr Asim Hussain in providing medical treatment to outlaws at Husain’s hospital.

Proclaimed offenders 

An Accountability Court (AC) declared MQM activist Ahsan alias Chunnu Mamu, former Karachi Development Authority (KDA) DG Muhammad Misbah and others proclaimed offenders in a land grabbing case registered with the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station.

The accused, including former KDA assistant director Mumtazul Haque, are facing corruption charges of more than Rs500 million.

Saleem Shehzad’s arrest 

A report submitted the Khokhrapar police in the court of the judicial magistrate (East) stated that former MQM leader Saleem Shehzad had been arrested in a ransacking case lodged against him in 1992.

The report said Shehzad was taken into custody for interrogation after an ATC granted permission to arrest him on Wednesday.

Two old cases earlier abandoned under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a controversial ordinance introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf, have been reopened against the former MQM leader.