KARACHI: The police department has released a six-month performance report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) regarding the May 12 massacre.
According to the report, further arrests were made in the case for alleged involvement in the mass killings during the last three months whereas, nine challans were also filed in the court by the police department.
Karachi Additional Inspector General (AIG) Amir Ahmed Shaikh said that a JIT was constituted under his supervision on the day the incident took place and explained that the nine challans were submitted by East Zone Police sector.
The AIG said that most of the suspects belong to District East of the port city while the total number of challans submitted to the court was 45. “31 cases including seven new cases are currently under proceedings as the number of cases reaches to 65,” he added.
“Three culprits are sentenced in May 12 case; however, 19 cases are still unresolved. JIT has completed its two sessions so far while the third session will be held on 15th Ramadan and fourth will be initiated after Eid,” said AIG Karachi.
“We have dispatched letters to media houses and other institutions for evidence and footages,” he added.
The police chief said that the investigators, working under his supervision, will try to finalise the JIT report within 1.5 months.
On May 12, 2007, a major portion of Karachi’s main artery, Shahra-e-Faisal, turned into a battlefield when opponent political groups clashed with each other soon after the arrival of the then chief justice of Pakistan. Due to the clash, the former chief justice did not move ahead from the lounge of the airport and returned to Islamabad without addressing a lawyers’ convention at Sindh High Court.
The main road was to be used by the procession of the then chief justice but was made completely unreachable to commuters as all the intersections were blocked by large containers and trucks.
The petitioner had nominated former President General (r) Pervez Musharraf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-London) founder Altaf Hussain, the former interior minister, and then-then Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar in his petition.
Petitioner claimed that MQM wreaked havoc in Karachi on the directives of General (r) Musharraf to prevent former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry from arriving into the city and addressing legal fraternity.
More than 50 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured in Karachi when miscreants attacked people going to the airport to receive the then-deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi ahead of a lawyers’ gathering.
