ATC extends remand of nine MQM workers for two weeks

Karachi
The physical remand of nine more suspects of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), including Faisal alias Mota, was extended for another 14 days by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday.
Arrested in the March 11 raid at Nine Zero, the suspects included Ubaid K2, Farhan Shabbir alias Mulla, Nadir Shah, Amir Saleem alias Sarkata, Kazim Raza Rizvi, Imtiaz, Abdul Qadir alias Hangora and Nadeem Ahmed. The court taking into consideration Nadir Shah’s ill health permitted him to meet his family.
Most of the cases in which the court gave physical remand were related to the possession of illegal weapons and explosive materials, while Abdul Qadir alias Hangora was alleged to have murdered Zubair, Karim and a policeman named Jumman.
Faisal had been awarded a death sentence in absentia for the murder of Geo TV journalist Wali Khan Babar. He was also among the 58 detainees produced in an ATC on March 12.
Senior party leader Amir Khan was also amongst the dozens of accused who were later remanded to the Rangers for 90 days.
The police had requested the remand of 26 suspects for 14 days of which four had been involved in previous cases; they were handed over to Rangers for physical remand.

Zahra Shahid murder case
An ATC extended the physical remand of a suspect allegedly to have been involved in the murder of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) leader Zahra Shahid till April 1.
The court was informed that Kaleemullah, a member of the MQM, was arrested by Rangers from Teen Talwar, Clifton, on March 18 and was handed over to the police by the ATC for seven days.
Previously, the ATC had directed the IO to have the suspect medically examined and submit a report regarding his health condition after the defence lawyer, Advocate Muhammad Jiwani had pleaded that Kaleem was brutally tortured in custody; he was unable to stand and was suffering from hematuria (blood in urine) whereas his feet were also swollen.
Kaleem’s counsel had also maintained that the charge-sheet submitted to the court did not mention his name as an accused in the relevant column nor as a co-accused. The MQM as well as the suspect’s mother, Qafia Begum, had claimed the suspect was picked up on February 25 and not on March 18, from his tailoring shop in Gulf Shopping Mall and was taken to an undisclosed location, whereas a case regarding his disappearance was fixed to be heard in the Sindh High Court (SHC); however, the Rangers claimed to have arrested him on March with an illegal weapon on him.
A Rangers spokesman announced that an intelligence-based operation near the Teen Talwar intersection was conducted and a ‘notorious target killer’ named Kaleem who was involved in numerous murders, including the targeted killing of PTI leader was arrested.
The SHC issued notices to IG Sindh, DG Rangers and others on a petition filed by Kaleem’s mother. Zahra Shahid was shot dead by two men on a motorbike outside her residence on May 18, 2013 a day before the scheduled re-polling of NA-250.
Two suspects namely Muhammad Rashid alias Master and Zahid Abbas Zaidi are already facing trial before an ATC in connection with the PTI leader’s murder. One of the accused was identified by a witness whereas another refused to testify over fear of security. Three other men Junaid Bukhari, Tariq Nawab and Asif alias Ganja were declared absconders,