KARACHI: Police booked Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on Tuesday on terrorism charges on a complaint of a senior official of Rangers Sindh for threatening, in a TV talk show, the personnel who had raided the party’s headquarters last week.

“Civil Lines police have registered the case against the MQM head on the complaint of Col Tahir Mehmood of Rangers under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7-ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997),” Karachi-South DIG Barrister Abdul Khalique Shaikh said.

According to him, the Rangers official, in his written complaint, stated that Altaf Hussain in his interview to a Geo anchorperson last week uttered words which amounted to threatening the paramilitary force personnel.

The words used by the MQM chief in Urdu, according to contents of the complaint, are: “Jin afsaran ne mere ghar par chapa mara woh Rangers ke afsaran thay, woh thay, woh ab thay hogaye.”

MQM dismisses charges in FIR as ‘negation of facts’

The complaint said the paramilitary force had conducted the raid on the ‘main office of MQM (A), commonly known as Nine Zero, Azizabad, Karachi’, on March 11 for arresting ‘wanted criminals’.

“During the raid several criminals/suspects were arrested along with huge quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives,” it said.

MQM REACTION: Reacting to the registration of the case against Mr Hussain, the MQM’s Coordination Committee said that constitutional and legal experts of the party were examining the matter.

“After having a detailed assessment of the case, a legal strategy would be chalked out to this effect,” an MQM spokesperson said.

The Coordination Committee dismissed the charges contained in the FIR against the Muttahida chief as ‘negation of facts’.

“Altaf Hussain has faced an undetermined number of such cases in the past and now as well we would defend ourselves legally within the ambit of the Constitution and law,” it said.

The party urged its workers to remain peaceful and maintain unity within their ranks.

“The MQM is a peaceful, liberal and democratic party. It would continue its constitutional, legal and democratic struggle under the determined leadership of Altaf Hussain,” the Coordination Committee said.

Published in Dawn March 18th , 2015

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