KARACHI: Two men shot at, wounded in Orangi
Two shot dead in Multan
14-06-2001
MULTAN, June 14: Two people were killed and five injured in a sectarian strike in a commercial centre in Mumtazabad here on Thursday night. The victims were present in a medical store below the Imamia mosque
when five gunmen riding two motorcycles opened fire on them. They were immediately removed to the Nishtar Hospital where Imtiaz and Sabir died. The rest, including Waqar and Taj Muhammad, were in critical condition.
Tension gripped the Mumtazabad and Shia Miani areas where police were deployed. A large number of Shia activists occupied the Nishtar Hospital emergency ward and allowed entry to selected doctors and paramedics only.
Clue to Sabir's killers found
MULTAN: Police have
found a clue to the terrorists involved in Mumtazabad
killing and the accused would be arrested soon, claimed
CIA SP Syed Javed Ali Shah on Friday. He said evidence
suggested that the accused were three in number and they
all were newly recruited, added the SP, who is
investigating into the case. He said the motorcycle
abandoned by the accused had been recovered. The
registration documents showed that it had been sold three
times and the police had traced the actual person in Toba
Tek Singh who had sold the motorcycle. No case was
registered till late Friday night. Earlier, hundred of
people offered Namaz-e-Janaza of Sabir Hussain, led by
Tehrik-e-Jafaria Vice President Allama Taqi Shah Naqvi.
The deceased was laid to rest in a graveyard at
Bahawalpur by-pass.
MULTAN: Strike against killings
MULTAN, June 15: A complete strike was observed in the Mumtazabad area where two persons were shot dead and five others injured allegedly by three 'terrorists' on Thursday night.
Groups of youth armed with batons marched on roads and burnt tyres to block traffic. A number of demonstrators entered the Juma Bazaar and overturned the stalls. A heavy contingent of police was deployed in the locality to avert any untoward incident.
The CIA SP who is investigating the case told this correspondent on Friday that the motorcycle used in the incident was purchased from a dealer of Toba Tek Singh. He said the three young men had come to kill one Waqar Haider and his brother who were eyewitness in a murderous attack case. The SP said three persons had been taken into custody for interrogation.
MULTAN: ATC judge among nine booked in terrorism case
MULTAN, June 16: The Mumtazabad police have registered a case against nine people, including a serving judge of the anti-terrorism court, for their alleged involvement in the Thursday night terrorist incident that claimed the lives of two persons.
The case was registered on the complaint of Syed Nafees Haider Naqvi under sections 302, 324/34, 109/397 of the PPC and 7-B(iii) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The complainant said that he, Waqar Haider and Sabir Husain had to appear before the ATC judge, Riazul Hasan Alvi, on May 24 last in a case also registered with the Mumtazabad police station. Detained Lashkar-i-Jhangvi leaders Malik Ishaq and Ghulam Rasool, both accused in the case, were also present in the court. During the proceedings, Malik Ishaq started cross-examining Waqar Haider though he had no legal right to do so.
Waqar Haider told the court that he was not bound to answer the queries of Malik Ishaq. But the judge allegedly said that he had allowed Malik Ishaq to cross-examine the witnesses in the case. Malik Ishaq threatened the complainant and his companions with dire consequences," the complainant further alleged.
Among the accused are judge Riazul Hasan Alvi, Malik Ishaq, Ghulam Rasool, Asif Ahmad Ali alias Shesh Nag and five unidentified assailants. Five motorcyclists had opened fire on a group of people sitting outside a medical store in Mumtazabad area on Thursday night. The assailants reportedly escaped in a car, abandoning their motorbikes at the crime scene. Six people sustained injuries in the incident. Of them Sabir Husain and a passer-by, Imtiaz Ahmad, succumbed to their wounds at the Nishtar Hospital.
The area's people protested against the incident and did not allow the police to enter the emergency ward of the hospital where the injured were being treated. The protesters also stoned some officials' vehicles.
Funeral prayers of the deceased were offered on Friday amid public-police clashes as a violent mob took over the Mumtazabad area, a Shia-dominated locality, and ransacked a number of offices, besides damaging public and private vehicles.
ATC judge 'explains his position' to LHC
MULTAN, June 17: The judge of the local special court No 6, Riazuddin Alvi, has reportedly explained the Lahore High Court his version regarding his being named in the FIR registered for Thursday's Mumtazabad sectarian strike that claimed the lives of two people.
Official sources said the judge had formally informed the concerned registrar of the high court about his position.
Syed Nafees Haider Naqvi of Mumtazabad who lodged the FIR had alleged that during the hearing of a case on May 25 last at the Multan Central Jail the judge allowed detained Lashkar-i-Jhangi hitman Malik Ishaq to cross-examine witnesses although he (Ishaq) was not a party to the case.
Nafees Naqvi further alleged that on the refusal of witnesses to answer his (Ishaq's) queries, the judge threatened them with dire consequences. Meanwhile, the implication of an anti-terrorism court judge in a sectarian killing case has triggered a debate in the legal circles here that what are the legal and moral bindings on the judge now.
LHC Multan Bar president Muhammad Irfan Wyne said legally the judge could continue his working but morally he should have to take leave until his name is cleared. He said mere nomination in an FIR did not necessarily amount to one's involvement in an act objectionable before the law.
Mr Wyne said the judge could allow an accused to cross-examine the prosecution side in case the accused was not being represented by a counsel. Moreover, he added, the judge might have warned the complainant and his companions in 'positive' sense that the accused were dangerous criminals, therefore, avoid arguing with them.
Former bar president Mian Abbas said a judge could allow an accused to cross-examine the opponents.
Multan District Bar Association president Mazhar Jameel Qureshi said investigators had to closely probe under what circumstances the judge allowed Malik Ishaq to cross-examine the witnesses and under what circumstances he "warned" the complainant with dire consequences.
Mumtazabad killing accused held
MULTAN, June 28: The local police on Thursday claimed to have arrested two accused of Mumtazabad sectarian killing.
SSP Ahmad Raza Tahir told a press conference that both the accused belonged to a religious organization.
He said some fresh blood had joined sectarian groups and there were evidences that these new entrants were involved in recent incidents of terrorist activities.
He told a questioner that activists of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi lodged in prisons like Malik Ishaq and Ahmad Ali alias Sheesh Naag would be interrogated for they had plotted to kill Waqar Haider, a complainant in a case against them.