MQM activist sentenced to 19 years in jail

Karachi
An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was awarded 19 years’ imprisonment while remands of four others were extended by a day, by the anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday.
Arrested last year, accused Shujaat, was said to be in possession of unlicensed weapons and explosives material at the time of his arrest.
The court observed that the prosecution had proved its case, whereby the accused was pronounced guilty and sent to the prison.

Remands extended
A judicial magistrate extended the remands of four accused, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mohammad Hamid, Shakir and Ismail to officials of the Rizvia police station for a day, in order for them to interrogate the suspects in two different cases.
Suspects Imtiaz Ahmed and Mohammad Hamid were alleged to have killed a factory worker, Waseem Ahmed, on March 12, 2014 within the jurisdiction of the concerned police station.
The police officials claimed that a case against the two and their absconding accomplices was registered under FIR No 70/2014 under Section 302/34.
The other two suspects, also produced before the same court, had according to the IO murdered a man Sabir, last year, near Noorani Masjid, also within the jurisdiction of the Rizvia police station.
The officer claimed a case against the two was registered by the deceased’s brother, Sikandar. He had alleged that the two accused had killed his brother over some personal enmity.
The four accused were initially arrested on July 4, on the pretext of ‘forcibly’ collecting Fitra from residents of the Rizvia Society.

Remand extension from ATC
Another activist of the MQM, Shakeel alias Baba, was produced before a judicial magistrate by officials of the Noor Jahan police station to acquire an extension in his remand. However, the court declined the request, directing the officials to seek an extension of the accused remand from the ATC.
The directives were given in light of the accused facing charges of committing at least 46 murders, before the ATCs; hence, it was appropriate for the investigators to produce him before the same courts and get his remand extended.
The suspect, affiliated with the MQM’s North Nazimabad Sector Unit 173, was claimed to have confessed of his involvement in 46 cases of target killings driven by ethnic and political motives.