ATC issues Altaf’s non-bailable arrest warrants

KARACHI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the MQM chief Altaf Hussain in a case registered with the Civil Lines Police Station and fixed August 20 as the next date of hearing.
The investigation officer (IO) was directed to arrest Altaf Hussain and produce him in the court on the next hearing.The same court heard this case on August 1 when it was informed that Altaf Hussain was an absconder in an attempted murder case. Investigation Officer Muhammad Naeem has already submitted a charge sheet in this case that shows nine witnesses, including the complainant, in the case.
They are Colonel Tahir Mehmood, Major Sibtain, DSR to Rangers Zia Farooque, DSR Ashraf Shah and Geo TV anchor Shahzeb Khanzada.The case was registered on March 16 alleging that the MQM chief Altaf Hussain had threatened the Rangers officials with killing while talking to Geo TVanchor Shahzeb Khanzada.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on August 1 accepted a report submitted by the IO stating that Altaf Hussain was an absconder in an attempted murder case registered with the Civil Lines Police Station for allegedly hurling threats at the Rangers after a raid on Nine Zero.
The IO had submitted that Altaf Hussain could not be arrested as he was not in the country and requested that he be declared an absconder, which the court approved.The First Information Report (FIR) in this case was registered at the Civil Lines Police Station. Sindh Rangers spokesman Colonel Tahir Mehmood filed the complaint under Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and 506-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The FIR was lodged after the Rangers, headed by Colonel Tahir, raided Nine-Zero and its adjoining areas on March 11. The complaint alleged that the MQM chief had threatened them by stating that the Rangers officers who raided 90 would be ‘history’. The complainant also stated that Altaf had hurled veiled threats at the Rangers officers.
The charge sheet

submitted to the court has now declared Altaf Hussain an absconder in this case.The charge sheet has been accepted by the ATC concerned. The court later directed the IO to carry out his investigation and submit a report to this effect at the next hearing.