KARACHI, Jan 23: A sessions court on Monday indicted Afaq Ahmed, the chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, better known as MQM-Haqiqi, in a murder case.

The MQM-H chief has been charged with abetting the killing of a senior activist of the rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement within the remit of the Sharafi Goth police station in May last year.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Malir) Munawar Sultana read out the charges against the accused. However, he pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

The court summoned all prosecution witnesses directing them to record their testimonies on the next hearing.

The trial was adjourned till Feb 16.

Mr Ahmed, recently released from prison after over seven years of incarceration, is out on bail in the present case. He appeared in court on Monday morning.

According to the prosecution, on May 3, 2011 armed men riding a motorbike intercepted the vehicle of Farooq Baig, an organising committee member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Karachi and a former in charge of the Landhi sector, and shot him dead.

The prosecution alleged that the victim was gunned down at the behest of Afaq Ahmed.

A case (FIR 104/11) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder), 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mr Ahmed and his alleged accomplices Ejaz Babu, Dilawar, Dildar — said to be the activists of the MQM-H — and some unidentified persons were nominated in the FIR.

An application seeking acquittal in the case has been moved by the MQM-H chief under Section 265-K (power to acquit accused at any stage) of the criminal procedure code and it is pending before the court.

Indian fishermen sent to prison

A judicial magistrate on Monday remanded 31 Indian fishermen in judicial custody for unlawfully fishing in Pakistani waters. The Maritime Security Agency had detained the fishermen and seized their 14 fishing boats after finding them inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Pakistan and handed them over to the police.

The fishermen were brought before the judicial magistrate (west), Mohammad Yaseen Qadri, and the court sent them to jail on judicial remand with a direction to police to file a report (charge-sheet) under Section 173 of the criminal procedure code on the next hearing.

A case (FIR 9/12) was registered against the fishermen under Sections 3/4 of the Foreigners Act and 3/9 of the Fisheries Act at the Docks police station.