DAWN/The News International, KARACHI
12 January 1999, Tuesday, 23 Ramzan 1419
KARACHI: An activist of Muttehidda Qaumi Movement, was shot dead by Korangi police, after a shoot-out on Monday while accomplice of accused managed to escape. Police claimed that they were tipped off about the presence of some accused near Kalloo Hotel. Police rushed to the spot where the accused resorted to firing. During the gun-fight one of them was wounded while his accomplice fled, leaving behind his weapon. Police identified the injured as Muttahida activist Israr. During interrogation he revealed the identity of his accomplice to be Saeed aka Kala. Police rushed him to the JPMC where he lost the battle of life and breathed his last on the bed. Police were looking for his companion. SSP East, Capt Jamil Ahmed Khan, has announced awards for the team which took part in the arrest. Following the incident, area residents claimed, a mob of the area people gathered around the police station and raised the slogans against the police. Those, surrounded the building of police station were included women and youth.
Supreme Court stays executions till disposal of case against MTCsISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay against execution of death sentences awarded by military courts in Karachi till the court's final ruling on petitions filed against the setting up of military courts.
The interim order came after a letter from the prime minister addressed to the Attorney General was read out in the Supreme Court. In his letter the prime minister assured the bench that he respected the functioning of normal courts as they were essential for smooth operation of the society but there was a grave and real emergency in the country which had also been upheld by the Supreme Court.
A seven-member special bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Ajmal Mian restrained the authorities from executing death sentences already awarded or which may be awarded thereafter till the final disposal of the petitions. The bench also issued notices to Attorney General Chaudhry Mohammad Farooq, the Advocate General Sindh and the respondents after fixing the case for regular hearing from February, 1 with consent after the letter was placed before the court.
The prime minister in his letter, read out in the court by AG himself, said "what we seek, in brief, is the furtherance of the paramount national interest in the shortest possible time after which we can return to more traditional methods and modalities of adjudication. Time is pressing, the emergency is real. Let us make sure that we do not miss the opportunity to restore peace while we still have the chance." The execution of death sentences awarded by military courts were stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday till Monday as the AG was asked to inform the bench on federal government's stand on executions.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Ajmal Mian, Justice Saiduzzaman Siddiqui, Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, Justice Raja Afrasiab Khan, Justice Muhammad Bashir Jehangiri, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid and Justice Munawar Ahmed Mirza is hearing a set of petitions against military courts. The petitioners include Senator Aftab Sheikh and Sheikh Liaquat Hussain of MQM, Nisar Khoro of PPP, Syed Iqbal Haider, chairman Muslim Welfare Movement, Shahid Orakzai, a freelance journalist and Wahabul Khairi who filed a fresh petition Monday.
Dr A Basit, counsel for MQM, also informed the bench that he had filed an amended petition focusing only on the creation of military courts. He also drew the court's attention towards an application filed by 19 persons facing trials before military courts, requesting the court to implead them as a party in the present case.
The prime minister, by way of illustration, also referred to the case of Sadiq Ganji, pending in the high court for more than six years. Numerous judges of the high court have declined to hear the case, he deplored. "One point emerges with crystal clarity. In abnormal times, normal legal processes were often perceived as being hazardous and inadequate by judges themselves for no fault of their own," he said.
"Sadly, the Ganji case is not an isolated one. I personally had to express my regrets to foreign heads of state in response to their repeated expressions of concern," the prime minister remarked. "When the lives of foreign diplomats were threatened, the country's foreign policy suffered. Our standing as a respected member of the international community of nations was imperilled. We were in manifest danger of violating our responsibilities under international conventions," the prime minister said.
These were some of the reasons which led him to take the extreme step of removing a Muslim League government from office. This was a political sacrifice which he did not hesitate to make in the larger national interest, said the prime minister. After reading out the letter the AG said whatever the prime minister wanted to convey had been highlighted in the letter, and it was his instruction that we should leave the matter before the court to decide.
However, the Chief Justice remarked that the basic point to be highlighted was that the apex court had already held in its judgment on Anti Terrorist Act that there could not be a parallel judicial system. Moreover, the government could execute hundreds of the accused, but the situation could not be retrieved if the court held that military courts were not permissible. The Chief Justice, however, assured that the court could fix an early date with the consent of both sides for early disposal of the case.
However, senior counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, who was representing Nisar Khoro, remarked that an impression was being created through the letter that only one person was concerned about peace in the country. The court is not dragging its feet, Aitzaz said, and requested the court that it should give the date for next hearing according to its own convenience.
However, the AG termed these remarks as uncalled for. Later, Aitzaz Ahsan while talking to journalists outside the court said that the letter in which the government had tried to establish that it alone was concerned about peace in Karachi, amounted to contempt of court and interference in the functioning of the judiciary. Dr Basit also remarked that he would file a petition of contempt of court proceedings on the letter. Senator Aftab Sheikh, one of the petitioners, also observed that the government had made an abortive attempt to influence the decision of the court which was yet to come.
Hearing of Zuhair Nadeem, Memon murder cases begin before MTCsKARACHI: The hearing in murder cases of Zuhair Akram Nadeem, a PML leader and Ismail Memon, Chairman of Board of Secondary Education, commenced before two new Military Trial Courts (MTCs) on Monday.
The MTC No 7 charge-sheeted accused Dilawar alias Khan Sahib, Jehangir alias Kancha, Aslam alias Nak-chapta and Tariq Mustafa alias Arif Burger. The accused pleaded not guilty after which the MTC recorded evidence of five prosecution witnesses in the Zuhair Akram Nadeem's murder case including Naseer Akram Nadeem, brother of the deceased.
Naeemuddin Qureshi, an eye witness to the killing, said that he went to the deceased to get a shop in the under-construction building owned by the deceased on the day of incident, July 4, 1998 in the jurisdiction of PS Orangi Town. He said while they were engaged in the negotiations, the arrested accused and absconding accused Ajmal alias Pahari and Ehtesham came and opened fire on the deceased. Zuhair Akram Nadeem fell injured while he ran for his life, he deposed while pointing out to the accused present in the court room.
He however failed to identify Tariq Mustafa alias Arif Burger. Another eyewitness Liaquat Samoo stated that he too came to the deceased for getting a shop. He said absconding accused Ehtesham came inside the under-construction house and while grabbing the deceased from his upper arm took him outside where he abused and hit the deceased with butts of a weapon and later fired on the deceased. It was about 1200 or 1230 pm and in the meantime absconding accused Ajmal Pahari and arrested accused Dilawar alias Khan Sahib came along with 8-10 other armed young men. He added that at this stage the labourers and he tried to take cover for fear of their lives. He stated that he hid behind a pillar from where he could see everything.
The prosecution witness (PW) identified the under-trial accused Jehangir, Dilawar and Aslam and said at the time of incident all the accused were armed and were firing. He stated that he had identified the accused in the identification parade before a magistrate. To a question by the court, he said his statement was recorded in December as earlier he was fearful of the accused as they are dreaded terrorists of the area.
He said after promulgation of governor's rule he was encouraged by PW Naeemuddin and other people that it will be a good deed to give evidence in the case. He said even the SHO of Orangi Town doubted his statement but later recorded the same.
When asked about the weapons carried by the accused, the PW made two different statements and the MTC recorded this fact too. PW Liaquat said he has no affiliation either with the MQM (Haqiqi) or PML neither he made any statement before CIA.
PW 4 Ilyas, who was witness to the recovery of empties, said police did not recover empties in his presence and empties were shown to him by a police constable who was holding the empties. Later the court adjourned the proceedings till Tuesday morning directing the counsel for defence and prosecution to attend the court on time. Dr Tariq, Medico Legal Officer of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, in his deposition read out the post-mortem report and stated that due to injuries sustained by high velocity bullets the deceased died of "cardio respiratory heart failure".
He stated that the deceased was fired upon from a close range of 3-4 feet and the time between death and post mortem was about 3 hours. Younger brother of deceased PML leader, Naseer Akram Nadeem in his deposition stated that on the day of the incident he received a telephone call from his niece that her father had been injured in firing. He rushed to the residence of the deceased from where he went to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the body of his brother was lying, he stated. He said post-mortem was conducted in his presence and later a report was prepared by the police which he signed too.
The MTC No 8, holding trial in murder case of Ismail Memon, Chairman, Board of Secondary Education, and his driver Ejaz Khan, recorded the statement of two prosecution witnesses after it charge-sheeted Ayub Haider Naqvi who pleaded innocence.
Naqvi is brother of MPA Zulfiqar Haider. Karim alias Baloch, Wasim alias Commander and Iqbal Modi and Qazi Khalid Ali, former Sindh Education Minister are absconders in the case. Deposing first, Mujtaba Hasan, a project officer of the Education Department,stated that he was informed by telephone that attempt on the life of Memon had been made. He said he rushed to the place of the incident where he saw the vehicle of the deceased with a broken windshield, seats blood-stained and body carrying bullet marks.
He stated that Inspector Riaz of PS Soldier Bazaar recovered two live and two empties of Kalashnikov from the vehicle. Inspector Riaz told him that the injured had been rushed to the Civil Hospital and when he reached there, the injured had expired.
He said he knew the deceased since long and also knows the family very well. Dr Shahid Akhtar Shaikh, MLO of the Civil Hospital, also deposed about the nature of injuries and cause of death. He stated that deceased Memon sustained three bullet injuries. Later, the further proceedings in the case was adjourned till Tuesday morning.
The question which had no answer!KARACHI: The Chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain has appealed to international Human Right Organisations to take notice of raids and arrests of workers and supporters of Muttahida.
In a statement on Monday he said that 'an even-handed operation was going on in Sindh where only one party, the Muttahida, was being victimised." Altaf quoted the incident in which all the family members were detained when a wanted person could not be found and arrested.
He demanded that the President and Chief of the Army Staff use their good offices for the release of the family of Muhammad Shakeel, a member of the organizing committee of Muttahida. "Which Shariat or what kind of law empowers the authorities to arrest the family members of a wanted person?" he asked.
Condemning the action, Altaf demanded the family's release forthwith, termed their arrests as 'open barbarism'. The government under the cover of Shariat had let loose a reign of terror against Mohajirs all over the country, alleged Altaf, and held it totally unjustified and unwarranted.
The Muttahida MPAs have further said that all development projects in Sindh had been shelved after the imposition of Governor's Rule. They demanded the resumption of construction of the Manzoor Colony Nullah. In yet another statement, the Organising Committee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement demanded the immediate arrest of Rafiq Afghan, the editor of daily Ummat.
Law enforcers accused of looting houseKARACHI: Some residents of Sikandarabad, Liaquatabad, have accused police and Rangers of breaking into their house and looting cash, jewellery and other valuables.
Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Monday, Misses Rubina, Nargis and Hameeda, residents of House No 96, Chandni Chowk, Sikandarabad, alleged that a raiding team in six to eight vehicles barged into their house on Saturday when no one was home.
"They broke the lock of main gate and conducted a search of the house. Before they left they looted Rs 150,000 in cash, jewellery worth 50,000, a colour TV set and other home appliances," said Rubina. "They entered the house at 4:30 pm and remained there till Iftar. The neighbours told us that some were uniformed while the others were in plain clothes," Nargis told journalists.
"I am the mother of two young girls and my husband died 25 years ago. I am a housemaid and collected the cash and valuables through years' of hard work. I wanted to marry off my younger daughter after Eid-ul-Fitr but I have lost all the cash and dowry," she added.
"They returned during the night and again searched the house. I cannot identify them," she said. To a query, Nargis replied that she did not make a formal report of the matter to police or Rangers for fear of reprisal. "We are not affiliated with any political party," she said, "nor have we been instigated by any group."
One killed in firing, cop injuredKARACHI: A man was shot dead in Shahrah-e-Noor Jehan police limits in an incident late on Monday. Muzaffar, 26 was gunned down in Manghopir. Sources said that the deceased had received multiple bullet wounds in an incident of firing. He succumbed to his wounds on the way while being taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. When contacted police said no further details were available as their officials were engaged in investigating the matter. A Head Constable of Saeedabad, Ejaz was shot at and wounded in his own police limits. He was taken to Civil Hospital.
Body found from gunny bagKARACHI: The Buffer Zone police found a corpse stuffed in a gunny bag on Monday. Police said they were informed that a gunny bag was lying near the Sakhi Hasan graveyard. On opening the bag they found the body of a middle-aged man with the hands bound behind him with rope. They shifted the corpse to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the MLOs said the deceased was strangulated and also subjected to brutal torture. His identity could not be ascertained.
24 vehicles snatchedKARacHI: The bandits looted thousand of rupees, gold ornaments, electrical appliances and snatched 24 vehicles from various parts of the city on Monday. The bandits looted Rs 13,952 from Ghulam Nabi in Buffer Zone; cash, jewellery and other valuables from the residence of Muhammad Rayaz in Korangi; Rs 4,500 from Pir Muhammad in Mochko; cash and valuables from a residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal; cash and valuables from a residence in Ferozabad; cash and gold ornaments from a residence in Al-Falah and cash, jewellery and prize bonds from the residence in Clifton. The carjackers snatched eight cars, one Pajero jeep and one Suzuki pickup and 14 motorcycles from the different parts of the city.
PESHAWAR: Poppy cultivated in Mohmand AgencyISLAMABAD: Pakistan will receive 32 remaining used Mirage planes out of 40 by May this year after upgrading by a French firm. Khurshid Zaman, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, informed the National Assembly on Monday that at present six Mirage IIIs and 2 Mirage-V of the 40 were under use of the Pakistan Air Force. He said 40 aircraft were contracted in 1996 with an average lump sum cost of $2.95 million per piece. Under the agreement, these fighting machines were to be upgraded. He said the French company would pay penalties because of the delay in delivering the aircraft. He said 34 aircraft were of Mirage-VF type while six were Mirage III BE. He said the life span of these planes was 1800 hours or 12 years. Pakistan Air Force did not acquire used or vintage Mirage aircraft from France in 1994 and 1995.