KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Saturday sentenced a man, said to be associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), to total 24 years in prison in cases pertaining to dumping of explosives and illicit arms in a public park.

The man, Noman Khan, was found guilty of possessing explosives and illegal weapons and dumping them in the Go Aish amusement park.

He was booked in two separate cases under Sections 4/5 of the Explosive Substances Act read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and Section 23(I)-A of the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 at the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station.

The judge ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused and sentenced him to 14-year imprisonment.

The judge further handed down 10-year imprisonment to him and imposed a fine of Rs100,000 in the second case of explosive substances and unlicensed weapons.

The court kept dormant the case against absconding suspect Imbisat Malik and it would be reopened upon his arrest or surrender.

According to the prosecution, the Rangers received information that Malik, who belonged to MQM-London, had hidden explosives and illegal weapons in a public park with intention to commit targeted killing and terrorism in the city.

They raided a storeroom on March 21, 2017 and found a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The law enforcers later arrested accused Khan, who was also said to be an MQM activist. The court indicted him, but he denied the charges and opted to contest the case.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2018