ATC indicts four suspects in rally attack case

Author: Yousaf Katpar

KARACHI: An Anti-terrorism court indicted four suspects belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement in a case pertaining to an attack on Mohhabat-e-Sindh rally in Karachi in May 2012 in which six people were killed and nine others wounded.

The ATC judge read out charges against suspects – Amir alias Sarphata, Faisal Alias Mama, Pervaiz Iqbal and Sarwar – who pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

While adjourning the hearing till August 16, the court gave direction to the prosecution to present witnesses on next hearing.

The Mohabbat-e-Sindh rally was jointly held on May 22, 2012 by Awami Tehreek and the banned Peoples Amn Committee.

Earlier, Amir alias Sarphata, who was arrested during a Rangers raid on the MQM’s Nino Zero headqarters on March 11, was claimed to have admitted before investigators to his involvement in firing upon the participants of the rally.

He said he did all this on the directives of Hammad Siddiqui, a former in charge of the party;s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC), who had moved to the UAE in 2013 after the MQM expelled him for violating discipline.

Two MQM London men jailed for 5 years

Meanwhile, a local court sentenced two convicts, associated with MQM London faction, to five years in prison for possession illicit arms.

The court found Yasir Bilal and Ahmed guilty of possessing weapons without licences and awarded them five years of imprisonment. It imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on them.

According to prosecution, both the accused were arrested from the jurisdiction of the Shahrah-e-Faisal police station in 2014. The police had recovered weapons from their possession.

Published in Daily Times, August 4^th 2017.