KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has approached the foreign ministry to share the joint interrogation team (JIT) report of a suspect, said to be associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London, with Belgium since he possessed dual nationality.

DIG-CTD Omar Shahid Hamid wrote a letter to the ministry of foreign affairs about the JIT report of suspect Wahid Husain alias Guddu.

“During interrogation, he disclosed names of his associates namely Arif Ajakia, Mohammed Saleem alias Belgium and others, who have committed various crimes in Belgium,” the letter stated.

He urged the foreign ministry to share the JIT report with the embassy of Belgium “for taking necessary legal action”.

The suspect was arrested by the CTD on Feb 20 when he came to Karachi to meet his ailing grandson. The CTD claimed to have recovered a hand grenade from his possession.

CTD arrested Wahid alias Guddu in February when he came to Karachi from Brussels to meet his ailing grandson

According to the JIT of the held suspect, he was arrested twice in 1995 and then in 1998 and got bail after spending some time in prison.

He told the JIT that MQM founder Altaf Husain became ‘aggressive’ when the MQM-Pakistan leadership ‘disowned’ him after his infamous speech at the Karachi Press Club (KPC). It said he wanted to take ‘revenge’ from the MQM-P leadership, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) and law enforcers by creating law and order situation.

The JIT report said that on Aug 22, 2016, Mr Hussain chanted anti-Pakistan slogans during a hunger strike at the KPC and directed his workers to attack media houses/sit-ins in front of police/Rangers headquarters.

The suspect informed the JIT that Saleem alias Belgium allegedly told him that after the Aug 22 incident, the leadership of London was “highly aggressive /disappointed and intend to take revenge from leadership of MQM-Pakistan, the PSP and law enforcement agencies by creating law and order situation through terrorist activities in Karachi”.

It said Saleem further told him that “they will have to do something special for Altaf Bhai”.

For the purpose, Saleem allegedly formed his targeted killing teams in Karachi and directed them to carry out reconnaissance of MQM-P and PSP leadership for their “target killing to create law and order situation and prevent common people to join the MQM-P and PSP”.

The held suspect told the JIT members that Saleem further told him that on Dec 10, 2018, one of his teams carried out a remote-control bomb blast on a Mehfil-i-Milad organised by the MQM-P in Gulistan-i-Jauhar causing injuries to eight persons including MQM-P convener and then IT minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, it added.

Saleem told the held suspect that he had paid a handsome amount to the perpetrators for this terrorist activity but Altaf Bhai was “unhappy” because no prominent leader of MQM-P was killed.

The suspect told the JIT that on Dec 24, 2018, the target killing team carried out firing at a PSP office in Usmania Colony, Gulbahar, killing two workers and wounding as many others.

According to the JIT report, the suspect revealed that on Feb 13, 2019, the target killing team carried out firing at a union council office of the MQM-P in New Karachi; resultantly two workers were killed.

Saleem was said to be an absconder in the said cases.

The suspect was not involved in any of the above mentioned incidents and the source of his information was Saleem.

The held suspect also told the JIT members that MQM’s Belgium unit consisted of about 30-40 individuals. “Almost all had criminal cases registered against them in Pakistan.”

“These individuals entered Belgium and other European countries illegally for the most part, and claimed asylum on false pretences,” the JIT report said, adding: “While there, they also flouted local laws, defrauded the Belgian government on tax, welfare, immigration and other related areas, personally enriching themselves, while at the same time maintaining a plea that they were persecuted in Pakistan.”

The JIT members came to the conclusion that suspect Wahid along with his associates was involved in “terrorism and anti-Pakistan activities”.

“They are also involved in overseas black jobs, benefits, chanda (donation) collection for target killers, DVD/CD piracy, tax under invoicing, hawala/hundi, making fake/forged documents for MQM workers etc.”

According to the JIT report, they collect illegal funds from Pakistani community for organising different party functions in Belgium and London and also transferred to target killing teams via hawala/hundi.

The JIT said that suspect Wahid was a close aide of suspect Saleem Ajakia and others, who “carried out multiple terrorist activities inside and outside Pakistan and involved in anti-Pakistan activities”.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2021