Mirza’s six accomplices remanded till May 22

Karachi
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) remanded six men to the Crime Branch police on Friday, who along with former provincial home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza are facing charges of an arson attack and a forced shutdown of shops in the Badin district.
The court directed the investigation officer (IO) to submit a report at the next hearing on the progress made in investigations into the charges.
The suspects — Muhammad Khan, Khuda Bukhsh, Hashim, Abdul Haque, Nawaz and Ismael — were brought to the court with their faces covered amid heavy security.
ATC-I Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso was told that the accused, along with Mirza, attacked a police station and were involved in causing damage to a government property, looting Rs3 million from a shopkeeper and creating a law and order situation in Badin.
The court granted physical remand of the suspects and directed the IO to interrogate them till May 22.
According to the investigation officer, another 50 accused, including Abdullah Mallah, Ayaz Meerani, Nadeem and Fazal, are still at large.
The trial court has granted protective bail to Mirza in three cases for Rs100,000 each till May 19.
Mirza has also been granted interim bail in another case lodged at the Arambagh police station by a police inspector, Alam Daheri. The complainant accused the former home minister of making a speech while standing on an armoured vehicle and creating a law and order situation in Karachi.
According to the case, Mirza along with 10 to 15 accomplices violated rules on the day he appeared before the ATC-I regarding his cases.
Illegal detentions
The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to federal and provincial law officers, the home secretary and other authorities on a petition challenging the alleged illegal detention of citizens, including government employees, by law enforcers.
The petitioners — Rasheeda, Mohammad Sharif, Bilal Zia, Mohammad
Sabir, Imran Khan, Saghirun Nisa, Zohra Hashmi and Nazia Naz – said law enforcers picked up their relatives from different parts of the city and their whereabouts were unknown.