KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has remanded five Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London activists in police custody in a case registered a decade ago against party founder Altaf Hussain and others for allegedly holding a gathering and blocking Shahrah-i-Quaideen in front of a gate of the Mazar-i-Quaid.

MQM-L activists Syed Hameed Pasha, Muhammad Tehseen, Muhammad Umer, Mirza Waseem and Afaq Alam were arrested on June 11 for allegedly staging a pro-Altaf rally on I.I. Chundrigar Road. They were released on bail but were picked up again and implicated in the case registered on May 12, 2016, when MQM had not split into MQM-Pakistan and MQM-L.

The five suspects were brought before the administrative judge of the ATCs by the investigating officer of the case, who sought their physical remand for interrogation.

The IO submitted that the case was registered at the Brigade police station on May 12, 2016, alleging that MQM leaders had held a gathering without obtaining permission from the relevant authorities and blocked Shahrah-i-Quaideen in front of the gate of the Quaid’s mausoleum.

He further claimed that the leaders had raised anti-government slogans in an attempt to incite the public. According to the IO, some senior party leaders were arrested at the time, while around 1,000 to 1,200 unidentified activists managed to escape from the spot.

After hearing the IO, the court remanded the suspects in police custody until July 25 and directed the IO to submit a progress report at the hearing date.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2026