KARACHI: Rangers raided the Muttahida Qaumi Movement headquarters Nine Zero in Azizabad early on Wednesday morning, detained several people, one of them convicted of murdering a journalist, and seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Some of the weapons, according to an official of the paramilitary force, might have been stolen from Nato containers.

Rangers also took away MQM’s central leader Amir Khan for ‘questioning’ over charges of ‘sheltering’ alleged criminals.

The MQM claimed that its worker, Waqas Ali Shah, 25, was killed in firing by Rangers, but it was denied by a spokesperson for the paramilitary force.

The victim was a member of the party’s central information committee.

The MQM also claimed that one of its lawmakers had been detained and that Rangers also raided the house of an elder sister of the party chief Altaf Hussain. But Rangers denied this claim as well.

“Pakistan Rangers Sindh has conducted a series of targeted raids in surrounding areas of Nine Zero, including Khursheed Memorial Hall, and detained hardcore criminals,” according to a brief statement issued to the media by Rangers.

It said one of the detained men was Faisal alias Mota who was allegedly involved in killing Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar and had been sentenced to death by a court in absentia. Another detained man was identified as Nadir, who was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Party leader Amir Khan taken away for ‘questioning’; a convict among several workers detained

Farhan Shabbir alias Mulla, Amir and Ubaid alias K-2 were also arrested while identity of ‘others’ is being ascertained.

“Huge quantity of weapons and ammunition was recovered,” the Rangers’ statement said.

Col Tahir Mehmood of Rangers told reporters outside the Nine Zero that some of the weapons seized during the raid were those whose import was banned in the country. “I think some of the weapons might have been stolen from Nato containers,” he said.

He explained that Amir Khan had not been arrested. The MQM leader is being ‘questioned’ as to why he was with the alleged criminals and why they took ‘refuge’ in Nine Zero.

Col Tahir denied the party’s claim that one of its legislators had been detained.

He said the MQM’s secretariat Khursheed Memorial Hall was being sealed and would be handed over to police on a temporary basis because they wanted its further search.

He said the raid was not political; it was carried out on information about the presence of alleged criminals convicted by courts and others against whom FIRs had been registered.

The Rangers official said that some other suspects had also been detained and they would be released if found innocent.

“We want to maintain sanctity of political office but it is within our right to raid a place where criminals are present,” he added.

He said there were 21 streets leading to Nine Zero and all had been closed by putting up barriers, adding that Rangers had asked the MQM to remove all the barriers because it was within their mandate to end ‘no-go’ areas in the city. No one would be allowed to take law into his own hands, he said.

When Rangers personnel were leaving the area two hours after the operation, MQM workers hurled stones at them and chanted slogans against them. The personnel were seen in TV footage firing in the air.

The Rangers spokesperson told Dawn that he was in the area during the operation and that “no one was killed”. He said it was not clear where Waqas Shah was killed.

The MQM said he was killed at Mukka Chowk, near Nine Zero.

The Rangers spokesperson said one media person, identified as Waseem Mughal, a cameraman of Express TV channel, was wounded in firing by ‘unknown persons’.

The cameraman suffered a bullet wound in his hand, but his condition was stated to be out of danger.

The body of Waqas Shah was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for post-mortem examination. “He sustained a single bullet wound on his face, which pierced through his back,” the hospital’s additional police surgeon Dr Rohina Hasan said.

MQM’S VERSION: MQM’s Coordination Committee condemned what it called ‘illegal and ruthless’ raid on MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s house and operational offices of the party and ‘arbitrary’ arrests of party leaders and workers, including Amir Khan, Abdul Haseeb, Dr Saleem Danish, Arshad Hussain, Dr Ayub Sheikh and MPA Rehan Zafar.

In a statement, the Coordination Committee said the MQM had announced a peaceful protest across the country against the ‘illegal and arbitrary’ raid on the party’s headquarters.

It said Rangers had vandalised the entire secretariat, including computers, TVs and other stuff, and also arrested a “number of workers and leaders”. It said Rangers had also conducted an ‘illegal’ raid on the house of Mr Hussain’s elder sister and vandalised it.

Published in Dawn March 12th , 2015

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