The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has blamed police for collecting Rs 220 million ‘bhatta’ (extortion money) from Karachi every day.
Addressing a press conference, MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi claimed that a party worker Muhammad Adil died of police torture on late Monday, adding that 45 other workers are still missing.
“We don’t know where are they, no one knows about them,” Rizvi said, and blamed the police for extra-judicial killings of party workers.
“Police is involved in torturing and disappearance of our workers. The law-enforcers collect Rs 220 million extortion on daily basis,” he accused.
“Even the Chief Minister Sindh remains unaware of many police actions, we are helpless, we have knocked every door for the justice… We have not authority to appoint a SHO, SP or DIG with our choice, not even a sanitary worker,” the MQM leader said
He also alleged that the Karachi police had admitted to killing MQM party worker Muhammad Salman in front of another worker Fahad Aziz.
He also stated that a father and son, belonging to MQM, were victims of police torture in the Nazimabad area of Karachi. They were stopped by the police and were beaten up when they failed to pay the asked bribe of Rs10,000, Rizvi said.
The father died because of a heart attack after being subjected to torture, the MQM leader added.
He alleged that MQM members were often subjected to such torture by the police.
Rizvi also recalled an incident that took place on October 7 last year. Three members of MQM belonging to the PIB sector were arrested by unidentified police officers and the whereabouts of these members is not known as yet, the MQM leader stated.
He added that there are 45 such people who have disappeared since last year. “They have vanished. They are nowhere.”
Rizvi said that MQM does not know whether they are dead or alive, adding that the party has failed to track their whereabouts.