- SHC puts DG Rangers, IGP, home secretary on notice on plea filed by family of MQM leader
Rangers personnel arrested Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee Deputy Convener Shahid Pasha in a raid early on Monday morning.
MQM spokesperson Wasay Jalil confirmed that Pasha was taken into custody by the paramilitary Rangers in a raid on his apartment in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area.
The arrest was condemned by the MQM leadership.
The arrested suspect was presented in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) where the administrative judge was informed regarding Pasha’s preventive detention for three months.
The court ordered formation of a joint investigation team to probe the charges against the MQM leader.
Pasha became the party’s coordination committee deputy convener a year ago, and is believed to be an important figure in MQM’s organisational structure.
Pasha’s arrest comes after MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, in an earlier press conference, accused the Rangers of torturing and interrogating “40 under-trial prisoners” belonging to the MQM imprisoned at the Karachi Central Jail, and “pressuring the workers to leave the party”.
He alleged that MQM workers were being forced to fill out a pro forma and told that they would be allotted every facility in prison, cases against them would be withdrawn and they would be released only if they changed their loyalty.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices to DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, Inspector General of Police Sindh AD Khawaja and the Sindh home secretary seeking their comments on a petition filed by the family of Shahid Pasha.
The petition detailed that law enforcers picked Pasha up from his Karachi residence early on Monday and even after passage of several hours, he could not be located, nor was his arrest made public.
A two-judge bench of the SHC after hearing the petition issued notices to the Rangers and Sindh police, directing them to file their comments by April 11. The hearing was subsequently adjourned.