KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar while responding to accusations made against the party by dissident Raza Haroon a day earlier said all allegations were made without evidence.

"Accusations being made now will meet the same end as accusations and those who made them in the past," Sattar said.

Earlier, MQM's mayoral nominee for Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, when questioned about rumours of a well-known personality joining the party on March 18 said, "Everything will become clear very soon."

A handful of MQM members have joined former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal's yet-unnamed party after his no-holds barred press conference earlier this month when he returned to Pakistan after a prolonged absence from mainstream politics.

Kamal has pulled Raza Haroon, Dr Sagheer, Iftikhar Alam and Waseem Aftab into his 'new party', which he said would be named on March 23.

Explore: Major blow to MQM as Raza Haroon joins Kamal

Speculation is rife as to why a number of senior MQM members left the country suddenly around the time Kamal returned to Karachi. Haider Abbas Rizvi, Faisal Sabzwari, Khushkbakht Shujaat and Khwaja Izharul Hassan are among those who left the country recently.

Certain party members left before Kamal's visit to Karachi, but uncertainty regarding the reasons for the absence of other party members remains.

Kamal's party to hold rally in April

Dr Sagheer Ahmed announced, while speaking to the media, that his as yet-unnamed party plans to hold a massive rally in Karachi in April.

Ahmed added that he and his fellow party members will reveal the name and structure of the party on March 23. Although he did not specify a date for the rally, he announced it will be held during the second week of April.

Responding to continuing speculations about the mysterious party, he responded, "We do not want to make any claims. We want to take the country on the path to peace and prosperity, and we want to offer people security, goodwill, and brotherhood."

"Please take note this party is based here, in Karachi,and we are all here."

In a press conference on Sunday, Farooq Sattar accused the Rangers of torturing and interrogating "40 under-trial prisoners" belonging to the MQM imprisoned at Karachi Central Jail, and "pressuring the workers to leave the party".

He alleged the workers were being forced to fill out a pro forma and told that they would be given every facility in the prison, cases against them would be withdrawn and they would be released only if they changed their loyalty.