ATC grants bail to Pasban general secretary

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court granted bail to the imprisoned Pasban-e-Pakistan general secretary, Usman Moazzam in a case related to facilitating terrorism and providing shelter to outlaws.

Usman was placed under preventive detention for 90 days by the paramilitary troops for interrogation in August last year, and was handed over to the police after the completion of his detention period for having been booked in two criminal cases on charges of facilitating and providing shelter to terrorists.

After hearing the defense and prosecutions sides, the ATC-II granted him bail against the surety bond of Rs500,000 in a case registered at Samanabad police station.

Earlier in Nov 02, the High court had granted him bail along with PPP leader Dr Asim Hussain, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani of Pak Sarzameen Party in the case registered at North Nazimabad police station.

Usman’s lawyer submitted that his client was picked up by Rangers personnel from his residence along with his young son, Muhammad in July, last year. After detaining him illegally for over a month, the Rangers produced him before the ATC and kept him under preventive detention for 90 days .

Advocate Farooq Khan alleged that it was after that the applicant’s spouse moved to the high court against illegal detention of Usman and his son that the charges were leveled up against them. Usman had nothing to do with the allegations leveled against him in the FIR’s, he maintained while requesting the court to release him on bail.

Farooq said that Moazzam’s eldest son, Saad Usman, was also missing since June 11 and the petition seeking his release was pending disposal. A complaint regarding his disappearance had also been registered at the Samanabad police station .

An FIR (179/15) was registered against Usman Moazzam at Samanabad police station under the clauses of the Anti-terrorism Act on the complaint of
the Rangers.

Another FIR was also registered against him, Dr Asim, MQM leaders Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani and Saleem Shahzad and PPP leader Qadir Patel on the complaint of the Rangers officer.

Dr Asim has been accused of treating and harboring suspected terrorists, militants and gangsters at the North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his hospital at the behest of the above-mentioned suspects.