KARACHI: Ahmed Saeed, a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement better known as Saeed Bharam, was jailed for life by an antiterrorism court in the murder case of an activist of the rival Mohajir Qaumi Movement.

Handing down the life term, the court also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on the convict, who with other accused persons had killed Syed Abrar Hussain on Oct 1, 2009.

In March 2016, the Rangers had informed the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts in Karachi about his 90-day preventive detention for questioning in targeted killing cases.

He was reportedly arrested in the United Arab Emirates over a week before he was produced in the court of the administrative judge of ATCs.

Ahmed Saeed with another accused was sentenced to death by an antiterrorism court for the murder of four American officials of Union Texas and their Pakistani driver in November 1997 near the PIDC in Karachi. However, the Sindh High Court had set aside the conviction and acquitted both convicts in 2003.

With over a dozen others, he was declared a proclaimed offender by an antiterrorism court in 2015 in the murder of a jail official.

The deputy superintendent of the central prison, Amanullah Khan Niazi, his brother Habibullah Niazi and three guards were gunned down near Saddar in June 2006.

Pir Yasir’s guards remanded to jail

A judicial magistrate remanded the three security guards of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional leader Pir Yasir Shah, booked and arrested for manhandling a reporter of an English-language daily, in jail custody.

The magistrate also directed the investigation officer to submit a final charge sheet in the case within 14 days and sent the suspects — Altaf, Majnu and Ilyas — on judicial remand.

The case against the private security guards of PML-F vice president Pir Yasir Shah was registered by the Defence police for manhandling The Express Tribune reporter Zubair Ashraf on Saturday.

Mr Ashraf was assaulted by private security guards escorting the PML-F leader on Saturday evening when Pir Yasir Shah was travelling on Korangi Road in his black Toyota Land Cruiser [QL-777] with seven to eight Toyota Vigos and mobile vans with both police officials and armed private guards.

The guards were enraged when Mr Ashraf, who was riding a motorcycle, objected to the rash driving of the vehicles in the convoy. They beat him with batons and injured him.

The victim was later taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors confirmed that his injuries were consistent with him being ‘subjected to torture’.

An FIR (132/17) was registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 506/B-504 and 337 (A)(1) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Mr Shah’s security guards at the Defence police station on Mr Ashraf’s complaint. Though Mr Shah was not booked in the FIR, the police said they planned to question him over the matter as well.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2017