KARACHI: A judicial magistrate has sent Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee's Qamar Mansoor, who was detained during a Friday raid on Nine Zero, on a three-day-long transit remand in Rangers' custody.

Judicial magistrate district central on special duty remanded Mansoor on Sunday in response to the Rangers' request until courts re-open after gazetted Eid holidays.

The Rangers had to present Mansoor before the judicial magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest to justify his detention. The magistrate handed Mansoor to the Rangers and directed them to produce the MQM activist before Anti-Terrorism Court II after Eid in connection with preventive detention.

Mansoor and Rabita Committee in-charge Kaiful Warah were detained by the paramilitary force in a pre-dawn raid on the party's Nine-Zero headquarters in the early hours of Friday.

Warah was later granted a 'conditional release' as long as he "reported to the Rangers authorities after the culmination of given period", a Rangers spokesman said.

The two were apprehended for "arranging and facilitating" what Director-General Sindh Rangers Major-General Bilal Akbar called "hate speeches against peace of Karachi”.

Friday's was the second raid by Rangers on Nine Zero this year.

Read more: Two MQM leaders held by Rangers in pre-dawn swoop

Also on Sunday, party chief Altaf Hussain issued a statement saying he had decided to go on a hunger strike unto death in protest of what he called victimisation of MQM workers and their detention by security forces. He said he would commence the hunger strike after getting a nod from the London administration.

Late on Sunday night however, MQM's Rabita Committee appealed to Hussain to take back his decision on starting the hunger strike.

Read more: Altaf to start hunger strike in protest