IO granted time till Oct 28 to submit interim charge sheets

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday allowed the prosecution to submit interim charge sheets at the next hearing on October 28 in two cases pertaining to attacks on media houses on Aug 22 last year.

The hearing was attended by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) senior leaders, including party chief Dr Farooq Sattar, deputy secretary Amir Khan, Qamar Mansoor and Shahid Pasha.

The investigation officer (IO) told the court that he had asked Dr Farooq Sattar and Amir Khan to fill in a form comprising nine questions. Thy retuned the questionnaire on Wednesday night at around 10pm and, therefore, it was not possible for him to complete the interim charges sheets, he added. The court accepted his request to allow him submitting the interim charge sheets at the next hearing.

Talking to journalists after his court appearance, the MQM-P chief said he had been pressing the government to withdraw media house attack cases against his party workers as they had parted ways with the MQM-London leadership. He said his detained workers facing these cases should be released immediately as the MQM-P was not responsible for what happened outside the Karachi Press Club on August 22, 2016.

Not only did the MQM-P leadership condemn the incident, they had also denounced MQM founder Altaf Hussian who was, actually, responsible for the violence and chaos.

“We have also condemned the anti-country politics and anti-state slogans,” he added. But more than 150 MQM-P workers were still missing and most of them belonged to the Shia sect, he claimed. While the MQM-P had nothing to do with the sects of its workers, it was determined to raise voice for all the missing workers, he added.

To a query, Sattar said all inhabitants of Karachi, including Bengalis, should be issued identity cards and passports. He alleged that many of the Pakistan Peoples Party leaders were involved in financial corruption and the National Accountability Bureau should take action against them.  

‘Daesh’ activist 

The Judicial Magistrate (South) sent a suspected Daesh activist, Khalilur Rehman, to the central prison on judicial remand.

The court also directed the IO to submit a charge sheet against the accused at the next hearing. On October 5, the judge had extended the suspect’s remand for seven days. The man was arrested by the FIA from the Karachi Cantonment railway station on September 28.