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KARACHI: Leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London Dr Hassan Zafar Arif was released from the central jail after six months on Tuesday after an antiterrorism court issued a release order of the septuagenarian retired professor.
Dozens of people, including women, received Dr Arif. People shouted pro-Altaf Hussain slogans when Dr Arif came out.
Earlier, an antiterrorism court issued on Tuesday a release order of Dr Arif in a case pertaining to an alleged hate speech of the party founder.
Dr Arif, who has been behind bars since October along with other party leaders, has been booked for allegedly facilitating and listening to the MQM founder’s speech in July 2016 at the party headquarters in which he (the MQM founder) reportedly intended to outrage religious feelings of people, criticise the military establishment and asked his workers to extort money from traders.
On April 7, the ATC-I allowed the bail applications of Dr Arif and Amjad Ullah Khan against a surety bond of Rs100,000 each.
The trial court in its release order issued on Tuesday said that Dr Arif had furnished the required surety and therefore it directed the jail authorities to release him after obtaining personal bond of Rs100,000 for his appearance before the court on May 3, if he was not required in any other case.
Both the MQM-London leaders were arrested in the present case on Dec 20 following their release from the central prison after two-month detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
Initially, both the MQM-London leaders were picked up on Oct 22, 2016 outside the Karachi Press Club, where they had arrived to address a press conference.
FIA official, three others arrested
A sessions court dismissed on Tuesday pre-arrest bail applications of a Federal Investigation Agency official and three others in two cases regarding demolition of a heritage building in Soldier Bazaar.
FIA Inspector Adnan Ali, Abid Shabbir, Amin and Mohammed Yusuf through their counsel moved pre-arrest bail applications.
During the previous hearings the court granted them interim bail and directed them to come on Tuesday for confirmation or otherwise.
After hearing arguments from both sides, additional district and sessions judge (East) Ahsan Khan Durrani dismissed the bail applications.
The Counter-Terrorism Department, which is tasked with the investigation of the cases, managed to arrest all suspects following the dismissal of their bail, though the lawyers for Adnan took him to the Karachi Bar Association’s office to avoid arrest.
The suspended SHO of the Soldier Bazaar police station Irshad Soomro, ASI Hakim Ali, mukhtiarkar Ahmed Memon and surveyor Ghulam Fareed Chauhan have already been sent to prison for their alleged role in the demolition of a British-era building located inside Jufelhurst School in Soldier Bazaar on the night of April 8.
Former FCS official remanded to prison
An accountability court remanded on Tuesday a former vice chairman of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) to prison in an over Rs45 million graft case.
The National Accountability Bureau produced Sultan Qamar Siddiqui before the accountability court. He was sent to prison on judicial remand.
NAB said that the former FCS vice chairman was arrested in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Tuesday, adding that a corruption reference was filed against him and on April 10 an accountability court had issued non-bailable warrant for his arrest.
The top anti-graft body contended that Siddiqui during his tenure in the FCS had allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs47.6m through corruption as the same was beyond his legal sources of income.
Siddiqui along with his brother and another suspect was recently set free after the military court acquitted them in the Safoora Goth bus carnage case.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2017
