KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Thursday remanded a Muttahida Qaumi Movement worker in police custody for seven days in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader murder case.

In a separate development, the law-enforcement agencies have been given one week to file comments in the Sindh High Court on his detention which was challenged by his mother.

PTI leader Zohra Shahid Hussain was gunned down at her home in Defence Housing Authority in May 2013 just hours before re-election at some polling stations of NA-250.

Police produced MQM worker Abdul Kaleem in court and submitted that they approached the Pakistan Rangers and took his custody after TV channels aired the news about his arrest by the paramilitary force in Clifton on Wednesday.

The investigating officer stated in the remand papers that the suspect confessed to have attended a meeting in which the murder had been planned. He was quoted as telling the investigators that weapons were later provided at a unit office.

The IO sought custody of the suspect for further questioning, arrest of absconders and recovery of the weapons.

Opposing the physical remand, MQM legal wing member Advocate Mohammad Jiwani argued that the suspect was picked up on Feb 25 from his tailoring shop in a shopping mall in Clifton.

He said a petition about his disappearance had already been filed before the Sindh High Court and notices were issued to respondents.

The lawyer also maintained that his client was subjected to severe torture. The suspect also complained to the court that he had been maltreated by the paramilitary force.

Judge Saleem Raza Baloch of the ATC-III observed that as the IO claimed the suspect was arrested on March 18 in the heinous case, the court was granting physical remand till March 25 and asked the IO to produce the suspect before the medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital Karachi for examination, treatment and submit a report.

The case has recently been transferred from ATC-III to ATC-VIII and it is fixed for indictment of two arrested suspects Mohammad Rashid alias Master and Zahid Abbas Zaidi on March 31. Junaid Bukhari, Tariq Nawab, Adnan alias Lamba and Asif alias Ganja were declared proclaimed offenders. However, the name of the newly arrested suspect was not in court record, because he was not among the absconders.

The case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on behalf of the state at the Gizri police station.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court on Thursday gave one week to the law enforcement agencies to submit comments on a petition against the detention of MQM worker Kaleem.

A division bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh, was seized with the petition of Kaleem’s mother Qafia Begum who sought his recovery.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Rangers claimed to have arrested the MQM worker who they said was a key suspect in the PTI leader murder case.

The petitioner stated that Kaleem was arrested by the law enforcers in Clifton on Feb 25 and since then his whereabouts remained unknown.

Published in Dawn March 20th, 2015

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