Karachi: Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the custodial death of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist who died Tuesday during interrogation by the paramilitary Rangers.
Aftab Ahmad, the MQM worker, died at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical College (JPMC) after he was brought unconscious to the emergency facility of the hospital by the Rangers on Tuesday morning.
The MQM condemned the death of Ahmad, who was the coordinator to Farooq Sattar, the deputy convener of the party, claiming the death was an extra judicial killing by the Rangers.
Later in the evening, the MQM released the pictures of the body of Ahmad, that bore what appeared to be torture marks from top to toe. Talking to journalists at the funeral of Ahmad, Sattar claimed that Ahmad’s nails were removed and he was also given electric shocks.
Altaf Hussain, the MQM chief who lives in exile in London, in a statement called upon the chief justice of Pakistan to set up a judicial inquiry to probe the causes of Ahmad’s death.
The Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) on Wednesday said that “the chief of army staff (COAS) has directed to hold an inquiry to find out truth in the case of Aftab Ahmad, who died in Karachi yesterday.
“He instructed to ensure that justice must be done,” the ISPR statement said.
The Rangers chief, Major-General Bilal Akbar, subsequently, suspended the officials who were involved in interrogation of Ahmad.
He also set up an committee headed by a sector commander of the Rangers, to probe into the death.
The Rangers initially claimed that Ahmad was taken to the hospital on his complaining chest pain.
However Ahmad’s mother told the media that her son had no medical history and he did not even suffer from headaches.
Dr Kaleem Shaikh, the police surgeon at the JPMC told the media that a report was prepared carrying all the account of Ahmad’s medical examination. He said but he could not share the details the report because of the legal consequences.
The MQM, meanwhile, observed a day of mourning to protest the death of its worker. Sattar called upon businessmen, traders, transporters, and teachers to keep working as normal instead of shutting down their businesses, but requested them to fasten black bands on their arms to express their solidarity with the party worker.
