KARACHI: A judicial magistrate handed over Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Qamar Mansoor to the Rangers on transit remand till July 22 and asked the paramilitary force to produce him before the relevant antiterrorism court after the Eid holidays.

The Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, had picked up the MQM leader in the early hours of Friday in a raid on the party headquarters Nine Zero in Azizabad.

The paramilitary soldiers with their legal team produced him before the court of a judicial magistrate on Sunday amid tightened security arrangements.

The Rangers submitted that the MQM leader, also a member of the MQM coordination committee, was brought before the court to validate his detention since the ATCs were closed for the Eid holidays.

They sought the transit remand and said the detainee would be produced before the ATC concerned after the holidays.

The judicial magistrate, central, who was on special duty, handed the MQM leader over to the Rangers on a three-day transit/passage remand and asked the paramilitary force to bring him before the ATC on the first working day after Eid.

In compliance with a directive of the Sindh High Court, a judicial magistrate is deputed in each district on Sundays and public holidays for remand and disposal of other urgent magisterial work on the criminal side.

Sources in the paramilitary force said the confined leader would be placed under 90-day preventive detention under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and the Rangers would bring him before ATC-II on Wednesday with relevant documents.

Section 11-EEEE (3) says: ‘The government or, where the provisions of Section 4 have been invoked, the armed forces or civil armed forces, as the case may be, subject to the specific or general order of the government in this regard, for a period not exceeding three months and after recording reasons thereof, issue order for the preventive detention of any person who has been concerned in any offence under this act relating to security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, or public order relating to target killing, kidnapping for ransom and extortion or the maintenance of supplies or services or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned for purpose of inquiry.’

The Rangers had picked up Mr Mansoor with the person in charge of the MQM coordination committee, Kaif-ul-Wara, for allegedly facilitating hate speech against peace in Karachi. Later, Kaif-ul-Wara was released on a personal surety.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2015

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