Three MQML-backed candidates go missing after alleged arrests

Three independent candidates have been allegedly arrested by police and Rangers in Karachi and Hyderabad, a couple of days after the MQM founder Altaf Hussain announced support for them in the General Election 2024, the party said on Tuesday.

Hussain’s MQM, which is also dubbed as MQM-London, had released a list of the independent candidates vying for 80 national and provincial assembly seats in Sindh and Punjab on Sunday, urging their support to vote for them on the polling day.

MQM-London information secretary Qasim Ali Raza told The News that a crackdown against the party-backed independent candidates was launched soon after the announcement.

He said PS-126 candidate Dr Osama Anjum and PS-108 candidate Tehseen Abbasi were arrested in Karachi, while PS-65 candidate Iqbal Arain was taken into custody in Hyderabad by Rangers and police. He said raids had been conducted on the homes of more than 20 other candidates.

He said two other candidates, Nisar Ahmed Panhwar, who is contesting for NA 248 seat, and his son Mohsin Panhwar, who is contesting for PS-85 seat, have already been missing since January 9, after law enforcement agencies detained them from their house.