The administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts on Thursday remanded three suspects, belonging to the pro-Altaf Hussain Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London, in the police custody for a week more in cases pertaining to possession of illicit weapons and explosives.

The Karachi police chief on March 19 had claimed to have foiled a major potential terrorism plot as they busted a local network of India’s Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) operated by militants affiliated with the MQM-London. The city police chief had said that there had been reports about RAW’s involvement in terrorism in Karachi, about the MQM-L running the intelligence agency’s local network and about the likelihood of them carrying out a major terror activity in the metropolis at any time.

“We found during our investigations that the MQM-L terrorist who received militancy training in India is the ringleader of the RAW network in Karachi,” Additional Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon had said in a news conference at the Karachi Police Office. “The ringleader had been involved in terrorism here with his MQM-L colleagues on RAW’s instructions. He had been in touch with former APMSO [All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation] chairman Mehmood Siddiqui, who has been in India for the past many years on RAW’s payroll, and used to despatch funds through hawala-hundi for carrying out terror activities in Karachi,” he said.

The group had also been keeping in touch with the MQM-L’s notorious terrorist Safdar Baqri in Canada, he added. The Addl IGP said the group had been tasked by RAW to provide funds to different terrorist groups in Karachi for carrying out terror activities, to store bombs and other weapons and supply them to different terrorists, to gather information about the city’s sensitive installations, including those of security and intelligence agencies, and share it with the intelligence agency as well as provide updates on the political situation in the metropolis.

He said the group also used to provide RAW’s special funds to Khalid Shamim, a prime suspect in the Imran Farooq murder case, adding that their bank transactions had been traced. The city police chief said the Special Investigation Unit had been tasked with finding and arresting the suspects, adding that the officials conducted raids in different parts of the city, including Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Federal B Area and Korangi, and arrested Shahid, alias Muttahida, an MQM-L militant heading RAW’s operations in Karachi, and two of his accomplices, namely Majid and Adil Ansari.

Memon said since the group had been involved in financing terrorism as well as international murder, the government had been asked to form a joint investigation team, adding that a cash reward had also been recommended for the SIU team for saving Karachi from a major terrorism incident.

In the progress report submitted to the court that the suspects had admitted their plot and had revealed the name of their handler for the arrest of which the police were making efforts and therefore the custody of suspects was required.

The judge approved the police request and called the interim charge sheet on the next hearing on April 1.

Request for JIT

A day earlier Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar had been requested to form a joint interrogation team (JIT) to question the MQM-London worker arrested earlier by police on charges of working for RAW.

According to a letter moved by Karachi’s additional IGP’s office, the SSP SIU/CIA vide his office letter dated March 24, 2020, through the DIG CIA has requested the constitution of a JIT for the interrogation of Shahid alias Muttahida, Majid Khan and Adil Ansari booked in an FIR (No. 69/2020 4/5) filed under the Explosive Act read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, and another FIR (No. 70/2020) lodged under sections 23-I(A)/32 of SAA at the PS SIU Karachi.

The letter said: “It is, therefore, requested that the Home Department, Government of Sindh, may kindly be moved to constitute a Joint Interrogation Team for thorough interrogation of above named accused.”

On March 19, the Karachi police claimed to have foiled a major potential terrorism plot as they busted a local network of India’s RAW, allegedly operated by militants affiliated with the MQM-L.

The city police chief said that there had been reports about RAW’s involvement in terrorism in Karachi, about the MQM-L running the intelligence agency’s local network and about the likelihood of them carrying out a major terror activity in the metropolis at any time.

“We found during our investigations that the MQM-L terrorist who received militancy training in India is the ringleader of the RAW network in Karachi,” Additional Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon said while addressing a news conference at the Karachi Police Office in Saddar on March 19.