An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday awarded 17 years’ imprisonment to two Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) activists each for attacking a police mobile and possessing illegal arms.
After the prosecution proved the charges against Mohsin alias Peter and Raees alias Kala, the court sentenced them to 17 years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs80,000 on each convict, observing that they had not only targeted the police but also possessed illegal arms.
According to the prosecution, the MQM-L workers had attacked the police mobile in Pirabad police jurisdiction in 2011. Both were arrested after an encounter with a police team and illegal arms were found on them.
Saeed Bharam trial
An ATC hearing murder charges against MQM worker Saeed alias Saeed Bharam noted that the newly appointed investigation officer (IO) had failed to appear.
The court issued directives to the IO to arrive for the April 28 hearing so that the trial could move forward.
Saeed Bharam, who appeared in custody before the court, has been indicted on charges of murdering MQM worker Syed Abrar Hussain Zaidi. He has pleaded not guilty.
Two other accused, Haider Guddi and Tahir alias Lamba, have been declared proclaimed offenders. Tahir alias Lamba is also alleged to have acted as an agent of the Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing.
At the next hearing, the court is expected to examine statements of prosecution witnesses. Police have charged that Saeed Bharam has admitted to killing Syed Abrar Hussian on the directives of the party leadership.
Besides, Saeed Bharam is facing over 50 cases pertaining to target killings and illegal occupation of land. He has also been accused of killing a worker of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement- Haqiqi in Lines Area.
After facing prevention detention by the Rangers last year, Saeed Bharam was remanded to the police. He was tried and convicted for the murders of four US workers of Union Texas and their driver in November 1997, the sentence was later set aside by the Sindh High Court (SHC) in February 2003.
According to a JIT report presented to the court at the previous hearing, the accused had revealed that around 13 hitmen had fled Karachi after the ongoing targeted operation began in September 2013 and that he knew of over 34 MQM workers who had received training from RAW. Believed to have fled to Dubai at the onset of the Karachi operation in 2013, Saeed Bharam was arrested with the help of Interpol Dubai and brought to Karachi on March 22, where his 90-day preventive detention was endorsed.
