KARACHI: A terrorism and attempted murder case has been registered against several individuals following a clash and firing between two groups of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan at their headquarters in Bahadurabad over the weekend.
On Sunday, supporters of Mustafa Kamal-Anis Qaimkhani group had allegedly beaten and threw out their rivals belonging to Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui faction from the party headquarters. Later, unknown persons resorted to heavy firing in the area, causing fear and panic among residents. A man, identified as Amir Ali, suffered a bullet wound in the incident.
Initially, the police appeared reluctant to lodge an FIR as they said none of the MQM-P groups had approached the police station concerned for registration of a case.
And when they finally registered an FIR on behalf of the state, they chose not to name the MQM-P or mention that the incident took place at the temporary headquarters of the MQM-P.
FIR says three persons suffered injuries but their statements could not be recorded
The New Town police station registered a case on the complaint of Assistant Sub-Inspector Mirza Anwar Baig under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of an unlawful assembly, guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 324 (attempted murder) and 188 (disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The police nominated two suspects — Azhar alias Lumba and Zeeshan Habib — and 20-25 unidentified individuals, without mentioning their political affiliation, in the FIR.
The complainant stated in the FIR that he received information at 8pm on Aug 2 that a clash had broken out between two groups near Bahadurabad’s Choti Market, during which a man identified as Amir sustained a bullet wound in his arm while two others also sustained injuries.
He said that the suspects kept firing at each other and in the air, which “caused terror and panic among the people in the area”. Later, they managed to escape, it added.
The complainant mentioned in the FIR that the statements of the wounded could not be recorded as they left the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital after initial treatment.
The clash and firing came as MQM-P has been facing internal rifts for the past many months over the issue of delayed intraparty elections.
Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026
