- Govt might re-open KESC MD’s assassination case, put MQM senior leaders’ name on ECL
- Sources say Sindh governor expected to resign in 48 hours while spokesman denies possibility
- Interior minister says Saulat Mirza’s execution stayed over health issues
A day after death-row convict Saulat Mirza had his hanging deferred by hurling serious allegations at the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the government has decided to re-open the murder case of former Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) managing director Shahid Hamid while it is also mulling to put the names of senior MQM leaders on the Exit Control List (ECL), sources told Pakistan Today on Thursday.
The government will re-open the case on the formal request of the Sindh government– something which could also lead to further delaying Mirza’s execution by a month, sources in the Interior Ministry added.
On the other hand, MQM leaders whose names are under consideration for being placed on the ECL include Babar Ghauri, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Wasay Jalil, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aamir Khan, Waseem Akhtar and Senator Tahir Mashhadi.
The sources claimed that the Interior Ministry has directed airport authorities to monitor the movement of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, however, they have decided against placing his name on the ECL.
The sources further said MQM workers Hammad Siddiqui and Saleem Shehzad who fled from the country are being called back.
SINDH GOVERNOR PACKING UP?
Furthermore, sources have claimed that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad will resign within the next 48 hours. The development comes after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar called the governor early Thursday morning.
The sources went on to add that Ebad is scheduled to go for pilgrimage within the next two days and will resign before he leaves.
“The federal government has given him [Ebad] a clear message to tender his resignation. Otherwise, they will remove him from the post forcibly,” sources said, adding that Dr Ebad has begun consultations with friends and constitutional experts over his resignation.
On the other hand, a Governor House’s spokesman denied reports of Ebad’s resignation, saying that no decision had been made so far in this regard.
Speculations regarding the Sindh governor’s resignation came hours after Mirza “confessed” that Dr Ebad provided protection to criminals and party workers in police stations.
In a “video confession”, Mirza had also alleged that he received the order for a ‘hit’ on KESC MD from Altaf Hussain on the phone at MQM leader Babar Ghauri’s residence.
The confession led to President Mamnoon Hussain’s ordering the postponement of Mirza’s hanging by 72 hours.
NISAR MAKES A ‘HEALTHY’ POINT:
In the meanwhile, clarifying the reason for the stay in executions of death-row convicts, Saulat Mirza and Shafqat Hussain, who were scheduled to be hanged early Thursday morning, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said their executions have been halted for 72 hours owing to different reasons.
“We have put on hold Saulat Mirza’s execution for 72 hours owing to health concerns,” the minister apprised the National Assembly on Thursday.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the minister skirted around the issue of the convict’s heavy allegations from his death cell, but added that Mirza was involved in other heinous murders along with that of former KESC MD.