MQM ‘hitman’ held for killing his own party’s ex-MPA eight years ago

The Counter-Terrorism Department of the Sindh police on Saturday arrested a man allegedly involved in the target killing of former provincial assembly member Liaquat Qureshi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi some eight years ago.

The arrest of Faizan Ali was made during a raid conducted on a tip-off in the Aziz Bhatti area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

Qureshi was gunned down on Abul Hassan Isphani Road within the jurisdiction of the Mobina Town police station on April 2011. His murder caused panic and fear in the city, where incidents of aerial firing were reported after news of his murder spread.

Qureshi was going through Abul Hassan Isphani Road when he was shot dead. Qureshi was a former elected member of the Sindh Assembly. He was elected an MPA twice on the MQM ticket, first in 1993 and later in 1997.

He was also a member of Karachi’s legal and organising committees of the MQM. According to a CTD official, one suspect, Jahangir alias Murtaza Josh, had been arrested following Qureshi’s killing, who had disclosed that the former MPA was gunned down over a personal enmity, in collaboration with Faizan Ali, who was then joint in-charge of the MQM’s Unit 159 in Liaquatabad.

The CTD Official said that the suspect had gone abroad to avoid arrest; however, he had recently returned to the country. A pistol was also found on Ali.

The CTD police said that the suspect also admitted to killing two more people, Osama and Mohib Ali, over personal enmities in PIB Colony.

Two shot injured

A driver of an online taxi service was shot and injured during a firing incident late on Saturday night.

According to the police, the incident took place near Darul Uloom Society in the Korangi area within the limits of the Zaman Town police station on the night between Friday and Saturday.

The injured was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medical treatment. Police said 40-year-old Shahid Ali, son of Waheed Ali, a driver working for the Careem ride-hailing service, was injured by unidentified persons for offering resistance during a car snatching bid.

The suspects managed to escape the scene. A case has been registered and further investigations are under way.

A 30-year-old man was injured in a firing incident near Essa Nagri within the limits of the PIB Colony police station.

The injured, Rahim, son of Abdul Aziz, was rushed to the JPMC. Police said he was injured for offering resistance during a mugging bid. A case has been registered while further investigations are under way.