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Probe into JSQM rally attack seems to be going nowhere

By Faraz Khan

KARACHI: The hidden hand that has been anonymous since the time it first appeared was sighted once again during an attack on the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mohaz (JSQM) leader but the authorities seem reluctant to reveal the identity of the perpetrators of the crime.

Prior to the incident during which one assailant was shot dead and the other was injured the worst ever ethnic riots could spread across the province but fortunately the conspiracy was nipped in the bud and the elements behind the conspiracy were exposed.  

The police have so far been unable to probe the incident properly and are waiting for a statement from the wounded assailant, who is still in an unconscious state. The JSQM protest rally that was attacked on July 24 could flare up misunderstandings between the two ethnic populations of the province if the culprits were able to achieve their objectives.

It is pertinent to mention here that the culprits were caught red-handed, secret agency cards were recovered from their processions and both the culprits were affiliated with the Mohajir Qaumi Movement Haqiqi (Afaq Group).

The JSQM rally headed by JSQM chief Bashir Khan Qureshi, was passing Safoora Goth to stage a protest demonstration at Super Highway, Sohrab Goth against the killing of their party’s worker, Zulfiqar Mallah, who was gunned down on July 15 within the limits of Sachal police station. The rally was attacked by four men, riding two motorbikes.

The Thatta divisional president of the JSQM Mushtaq Khaskheli was killed and another worker Ejaz was injured when assailants opened fire at the rally within Malir Cantt police limits. One of the assailants Mustafa Zahid alias Taifi was also killed while another Imran alias Imran Kala sustained injuries and was arrested in the incident.

Reliable sources in the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) told Daily Times that Zahid had been MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed’s former chief security guard and was also involved in the Taqi Centre attack, in which ten MQM men including Liaquatabad’s Sector Incharge Asad Jamal and MQM unit 173 In-charge Afroz were killed while about six workers were injured.

The sources further said that before the local government election in 1987, Zahid had joined MQM-H’s Unit 146 (Federal B Area) and then left the party over some dispute and made his own group known as the ‘Ganja group’.

He joined MQM-H again after it came on display. He then went to Lahore in 1991 and after arriving in the city in 1992; he resided at the Furniture Market area in Liaquatabad.

During the Karachi operation, he was living in the MQM-H headquarter, Baitul Hamza and was Ahmed’s chief security guard.

He was shifted to Rawalpindi after his rival group Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) joined the government and later he was arrested with Ahmed in 2004. After being imprisoned for one-and-a-half-year, he went to Rawalpindi again and came to the city a year ago.

It is pertinent to mention here that the police registered an FIR no 83/09 on behalf of JSQM’s injured worker Ejaz against Mustafa, Imran Kala and two unknown culprits but after the passage of the three days, the investigators have failed to probe the case and have not even come across any clues.

The investigation team headed by SSP Niaz Khoso and three Station Investigation Officers (SIOs) including SIO Malir Cantt, SIO Sachal and SIO Bahadurabad has also been formed to probe the case but the investigation officers have pinned all their hopes on the statement of the unconscious culprit and have not made any other advance in the investigation to date.

When Daily Times asked Malir Cantt SIO Khalid Hussain about the progress in the case, he replied, “No progress had been made in the case and the investigation is standing exactly where it was when it initially began.”

The investigators are not collecting evidence about the case nor looking through the criminal records of the statement and are waiting for the culprit to gain consciousness. “The arrested culprit is admitted in a hospital and is still unconscious. We cannot initiate the investigation until he is awake,” the officer added.

It should be noted here that official cards showing their affiliation with intelligence agencies and Gadap Town were recovered from the possession of the deceased assailant but the officials concerned denied the recovery of such cards.

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