• ATC judge exonerates the duo of charges of murdering then KESC chief, his driver and guard 28 years ago, for lack of evidence
• Accused Minhaj and Mehboob were arrested months after Muttahida hitman Saulat Mirza was hanged in Balochistan prison in May 2015

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday acquitted two activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the nearly three-decades-old Shahid Hamid murder case for want of evidence.

The two accused — Mohammad Minhaj Qazi, alias Asad and Mehboob Ghufran, alias Athar — were charged with the triple murder of the managing director of the then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, now K-Electric, Shahid Hamid, his driver and a guard in DHA on July 5, 1997.

In December 1998, police had arrested MQM activist Saulat Mirza, who confessed to the murder of the KESC chief and named his accomplices. In 1999, an ATC sentenced Mirza to death and on May 12, 2015 he was hanged in a Balochistan prison.

Accused Qazi was arrested in 2016 and Ghufran was captured in 2017. They were facing trial in the triple murder case for the past eight years.

The ATC-6 judge had reserved its verdict for pronouncement after hearing arguments from both sides.

On Tuesday, the judge, who conducted the trial at the Judicial Complex inside the Central Prison, announced the verdict, acquitting the two accused as the prosecution failed to establish its case against them.

The court ordered their release if they were not required in any other case.

Defence counsel Mushtaque Ahmed told Dawn that no other case was pending against his client Minhaj Qazi. Later, a jail official confirmed to Dawn that Qazi had been released.

Regarding the proclaimed absconders including MQM founder Altaf Hussain, Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat and others, the court directed that the case file be kept dormant until their arrest.

‘Discrepancies in eyewitnesses’ testimonies’

“The prosecution did not produce trustworthy, reliable, admissible, convincing and cogent evidence against the accused, rather his name has been surfaced through the manipulated and creative documents, hence, on the basis of the alleged ocular evidence, identification parade, alleged recovery and confession, which have been discarded out… false implication of accused Muhammad Minhaj Qazi and Mehboob Ghufan cannot be ruled out,” the court order said.

Explaining the reasons for acquitting the accused in the triple murder case, the court noted in its detailed verdict that discrepancies were found in the statements of the two eyewitnesses — the widow and son of the deceased.

It observed that in the initial statements given to the investigating officer, as well as in their earlier evidence recorded before the arrest of the present accused, neither there was any mention of their presence at the crime scene, nor the witnesses deposed that they had seen them opening fire.

It added that their “testimonies were riddled with contradictions, dishonest improvements and lacked credibility”.

“The demeanour of the alleged eyewitnesses did not certify them to be the truthful witnesses, thus their evidence cannot be treated as gospel truth; rather apparently seems to have been put forth as interested witnesses with sinister designs,” it added.

Regarding the identification parade of the accused, the court observed that a five-day delay in conducting the exercise was neither justified nor explained by the judicial magistrate or the investigating officer.

“[The] identification parade was held after 19 years of the incident and the accused [Minhaj] was in Rangers custody from 29.01.2016 and sufficient evidence is available that his photographs were telecasted and published in print media and electronic media, hence, such nature of identification parade have not legal sanctity,” the judge ruled in the verdict.

The court also noted that the confessional statements of the accused were not recorded in accordance with the legal guidelines. “It prima facie shows that neither the present accused [Minhaj] was produced for his confessional statement in this [murder] case nor even the judicial magistrate bothered to seek such clarification from the IO,” it added.

The verdict said that the judicial magistrate had admitted that Minhaj was remanded in the custody of a police officer after recording of his confessional statement.

Acquittal in illicit weapon case

The judge also acquitted Minhaj Qazi in a separate case pertaining to the possession of an unlicensed Kalashnikov for lack of evidence.

In the verdict, the judge observed that the alleged recovery of the Kalashnikov used in the commissioning of the offence and rounds were highly doubtful.

The court also questioned how the weapon, recovered 19 years after the incident, could have remained in working condition without any signs of rust or deterioration

The triple murder case was registered at the Defence police station on the complaint of the widow of the deceased Shahid Hamid under Sections 302 (murder), 109 (abetment), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On Feb 3, 2016, the Rangers had arrested Minhaj Qazi and placed him under 90-day preventive detention for an inquiry over his alleged involvement in terrorism cases. Later, he was handed over to the police and the IO formally arrested him in the Shahid Hamid murder case.

In May 2016, deceased widow Shahnaz and son Omar Shahid had identified Minhaj Qazi as one of the four hitmen during an identification parade held before a judicial magistrate.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2025