KARACHI: A senior worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, who had earlier been detained by Sindh Rangers for 90 days, died in the custody of the paramilitary force on Tuesday under controversial circumstances.

While doctors reserved the cause of death of Aftab Ahmed, who was also a coordinator of senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, after a post-mortem examination, the paramilitary force claimed that the activist died of heart failure.

The MQM, however, rejected the Rangers’ claim and blamed the force for brutally torturing the activist in custody and then influencing the post-mortem examination. It demanded an independent inquiry commission to determine the real cause of Ahmed’s death.

Rangers officials claimed that on early Tuesday morning Ahmed complained of “discomfort in breathing and chest congestion” and was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he died after 25 minutes of admission and treatment at the emergency unit of the health facility.

A brief statement issued by the Rangers said that Ahmed was arrested by the paramilitary force on May 1 “due to his involvement in several crimes” and an antiterrorism court was informed about his 90-day preventive detention for investigation.

“Early morning today [Tuesday] he complained of pain in the chest and he was immediately moved to hospital, where he died of cardiac failure,” it said, without mentioning as to how the Rangers determined the cause of death.

The account of Dr Seemin Jamali, the head of the JPMC’s emergency unit, did not support the Rangers’ version, as she told Dawn that Ahmed had “no pulse and no blood pressure” when he was brought to the hospital.

“The doctors and staff did their best and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the man but it failed to revive him,” she said about the treatment process.

The MQM activist’s autopsy was conducted by a team of doctors under the supervision of a judicial magistrate (south).

The information shared by doctors also raised questions about the cause of death as claimed by the Rangers.

“He was brought here at around 7:55am and he died during treatment at the emergency unit at around 8:20am,” Additional Police Surgeon Dr Kaleem Sheikh, who was part of the team which conducted the post-mortem examination, told reporters.

Dr Shaikh remained silent when asked whether the body bore marks of torture.

About the exact cause of death, he said: “The report has been reserved. We have sent samples for chemical examinations. We can only tell you about the cause of death once the process is complete. Before that we cannot comment on that subject.”

MQM terms custodial death a ‘murder’ Already in tense relations with the Rangers, the MQM came up with a strong reaction and termed the death of its activist a murder.

It said that the paramilitary force severely and brutally tortured the activist that caused his death.

“The MQM has categorically rejected the Rangers’ version about Aftab Ahmed’s death,” said Nadeem Nusrat, the London-based convenor of the MQM coordination committee. “During custody Ahmed suffered brutal and intense torture and undeniable evidence is available.”

He alleged that as part of a deliberate cover-up the post-mortem examination was conducted under the ‘supervision’ of the Rangers who ordered the doctors and staff members of the JPMC to leave the mortuary.

He said that the Rangers wanted to get a favourable medico-legal report to claim that “Aftab Ahmed died of unknown reasons instead of brutal torture”.

Funeral prayer held at Numaish In the evening, the funeral prayer for Aftab Ahmed was offered near the Numaish traffic intersection. A large number of people attended the prayers amid strict security arrangements by police and Rangers.

Ahmed, 42, was a resident of Federal B Area’s Block 14 and father of five.

He had been associated with the MQM since 1990 when he joined Unit-85 of the party’s organisational structure in Landhi.

He had been serving as the coordinator to Dr Farooq Sattar since 2002.

The MQM also appealed to the people to observe Wednesday as “a day of mourning”.

Unlike the past when its ‘mourning-day’ calls paralysed life in the city, the MQM made it clear only black flags would be hoisted and prayers would be held for the slain worker. The public transport and other business and commercial activities would remain normal in the city, it added.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2016