KARACHI: A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been formed to question Muttahida Qaumi Movement's jailed Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar.

In a notification released on Wednesday, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the JIT has been instructed to investigate the matter with in seven days.

Akhtar was arrested on July 19 on suspicion of sheltering and providing medical treatment to alleged militants and criminals. He also faces earlier charges of inciting riots.

The MQM leader is the first person in the country to have won the mayoral election from prison with a comfortable margin against his rival candidate pitted by a six-party alliance formed to contest against the the MQM.

Security forces have arrested scores of MQM members in the last year and accuse them of torture, murder and racketeering in a bid to keep their grip on the city. MQM denies any link to crime and accuses paramilitary forces of a series of extra-judicial killings of its members.