KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Wednesday remanded three suspects in police custody till June 15 in four cases pertaining to the murder of social and human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud and five policemen.

The police produced Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Sain, Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin alias John and Asad-ur-Rehman alias Malik in court amid tight security and claimed that they along with their two accomplices were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Safoora bus carnage.

The police submitted that during questioning they confessed to having killed Ms Mahmud and the five policemen.

The investigation officer informed the court that the suspects along with their two accomplices had already been in police custody in police encounter and possession of illicit weapons and explosives cases and requested the court to grant their remand in the present cases.

Judge Saleem Raza Baloch of the ATC-III remanded the suspects in police custody for five days with a direction to produce them on the next date with a progress report.

Sabeen Mahmud, social media campaigner and human rights activist who founded the social forum T2F, was gunned down on April 24 in Defence Housing Authority when she along with her mother was returning home after organising a seminar on Balochistan.

A case was registered on the complaint of the deceased’s mother at the Defence police station.

The police have shown Tayyab, Mehmood, Ali Rehman and Umar as absconders in the case.

The same set of suspects was also booked for killing three policemen on M.A. Jinnah Road within the jurisdiction of the Preedy police station and two others in the Arambagh area on March 10.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2015

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