KARACHI: The Sindh High Court granted on Friday bail to 19 Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan workers in two cases pertaining to listening to an alleged hate speech of the party founder and attacking media houses.

MQM-Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar along with party leaders Amir Khan, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Qamar Mansoor, Shahid Pasha and dozens of workers have been booked for allegedly facilitating and listening to a highly provocative speech of party founder Altaf Hussain on Aug 22 last year outside the Karachi Press Club, which triggered a violent protest, arson attacks and ransacking of media houses.

The suspects through their counsel moved the high court for bail after the trial court dismissed their applications.

After hearing arguments from both sides, a two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh granted bail against a surety bond of Rs100,000 each.

Initially, police had arrested Kanwar Naveed, Qamar Mansoor, Shahid Pasha, Gul Fraz and around 50 party workers and had shown almost the entire leadership of the MQM as absconders in the charge sheets. Later, Kanwar Naveed along with other detained party leaders and around 30 workers were released on bail.

The cases were registered under multiple charges, including sedition and offences against the state at the Artillery Maidan police station.

Cases of unclaimed bodies

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police informed a judicial magistrate on Friday that a police official had been deputed to conduct investigations into the cases of five unclaimed bodies.

The CTD also submitted that efforts were being made for implementation of the court’s directions regarding missing persons and unidentified bodies.

On July 11, magistrate Shahid Soomro dismissed police reports seeking closure of investigation into the cases of five unclaimed bodies and referred the cases to the CTD for reinvestigation.

The court had also directed the CTD chief to implement the recommendations to find out relatives of the unclaimed bodies and missing persons, give advertisement of unclaimed bodies’ website through media, depute one police officer at every police station to maintain the record of unclaimed bodies and develop working relationship between IOs and the National Database and Registration Authority to ensure speedy exchange of necessary details.

A CTD official on Friday informed the court that an inspector was deputed to investigate the cases and he would file final investigation report within 10 days.

He also submitted the minutes of a meeting headed by the CTD chief held on July 17 to implement the directions given by the court.

According to the prosecution, the bodies of five out of around 10 men found shot dead near the Lyari River within the remit of the Mauripur police station in the middle of last year still remained unidentified.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2017