Dr Asim Hussain was booked to fly back to Dubai. He was at the office of Sindh’s HEC – which he heads after higher education was made a provincial subject following the 18th Amendment – when masked men from Sindh Rangers entered the premises and arrested him in one of the most high profile raids since the Karachi Operation began.
“If the Rangers had any reservations about any of my cabinet members, they should have informed me first,” Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said. “We will talk to the federal government about such ad hoc raids.”
The next day, Dr Asim Hussain was paraded in an anti-terrorism court and the Rangers took him into custody for 90 days for “providing logistics and finances for terrorism”.
An intelligence official claimed he was “aiding MQM workers”, gave money to party leader Muhammad Anwar and party chief Altaf Hussain, and “made billions of rupees in illegal contracts”.
Intelligence agencies and Rangers are questioning Dr Asim in a special cell in Karachi. The detention comes under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti Terrorist Act – a provision added in the Pakistan Protection Ordinance. It follows the interrogation of two officials of Sui Southern Gas Company – chief finance officer Amin Rajput and deputy managing director Shoaib Warsi.
Later, the Rangers director general shared with the Sindh chief minister the evidence that led to the arrest.
A source present in the meeting said Qaim Ali Shah and other People's Party leaders were shocked to find out it had nothing to do with their party, and everything to do with the MQM. But many in the party were concerned about the arrest nevertheless.
“The PPP will not accept such biased actions in Sindh,” said Khurshid Shah, the opposition leader in the National Assembly. “If such raids continue to target us in Sindh, we will protest.”
“We must understand that Dr Asim Hussain was arrested for financing terrorism. That is why he was arrested by the Rangers,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said. “If it were for corruption, NAB would deal with the matter.” He denied his government was targeting the opposition.
Former president Asif Zardari, a close friend of Dr Asim, attacked the PML-N in a statement following the arrest. “We think the PPP is being deliberately targeted by the PML-N,” party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said. But another PPP insider believes the federal government “is as clueless as the PPP” on this matter.
Law enforcement authorities had just stepped up an operation against what they called MQM’s militant wing before party leader Rasheed Godil’s attempted assassination. Party leaders are going into hiding “as if we were criminals”, one MPA said. “There is a lot of resentment against the party leadership as well as law enforcement agencies.”
The MQM has announced an end to its negotiations with the government, which is concerned about the party's resignation from the parliament, and had sent their ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to talk to them.
According to statistics provided by Pakistan Rangers, Rangers have conducted 5,785 operations since the beginning of the law-enforcement drive in Karachi, in which 10,353 suspects have been arrested. At least 826 have been classified as “terrorists”, 335 as “target killers”, and 296 have been accused of extortion.
“The Rangers are going from dealing with the bad to taking on the worse,” PTI's Faisal Vadwa says. “And they happen to belong to political groups who have been sheltering criminals.”
Many believe more high profile arrests are likely in the near future. It seems that the focus will largely be on the MQM. “Recently, we brought back a target killer from Dubai who confessed killing workers of an American oil company in Karachi,” a security official said. He claimed the man belonged to the MQM. The official said there were “two MQMs” – a criminal one and a political one. “The political one must stay.”
According to statistics taken from the Sindh Home Department, police and Rangers, 19% of the suspects arrested during the Karachi operation are said to be linked to the MQM. About 8% are said to belong to the ANP, 4% to Sunni Tehrik, and only 1% are said to be from the PPP. The numbers cannot be verified independently and the political parties usually distance themselves from suspected criminals. About 47% of the arrested suspects belong to TTP and associated groups.
It remains to be seen how the Karachi operation will affect the upcoming
“If the Rangers had any reservations about any of my cabinet members, they should have informed me first,” Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said. “We will talk to the federal government about such ad hoc raids.”
The next day, Dr Asim Hussain was paraded in an anti-terrorism court and the Rangers took him into custody for 90 days for “providing logistics and finances for terrorism”.
An intelligence official claimed he was “aiding MQM workers”, gave money to party leader Muhammad Anwar and party chief Altaf Hussain, and “made billions of rupees in illegal contracts”.
Intelligence agencies and Rangers are questioning Dr Asim in a special cell in Karachi. The detention comes under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti Terrorist Act – a provision added in the Pakistan Protection Ordinance. It follows the interrogation of two officials of Sui Southern Gas Company – chief finance officer Amin Rajput and deputy managing director Shoaib Warsi.
Later, the Rangers director general shared with the Sindh chief minister the evidence that led to the arrest.
A source present in the meeting said Qaim Ali Shah and other People's Party leaders were shocked to find out it had nothing to do with their party, and everything to do with the MQM. But many in the party were concerned about the arrest nevertheless.
“The PPP will not accept such biased actions in Sindh,” said Khurshid Shah, the opposition leader in the National Assembly. “If such raids continue to target us in Sindh, we will protest.”
“We must understand that Dr Asim Hussain was arrested for financing terrorism. That is why he was arrested by the Rangers,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said. “If it were for corruption, NAB would deal with the matter.” He denied his government was targeting the opposition.
Former president Asif Zardari, a close friend of Dr Asim, attacked the PML-N in a statement following the arrest. “We think the PPP is being deliberately targeted by the PML-N,” party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said. But another PPP insider believes the federal government “is as clueless as the PPP” on this matter.
Law enforcement authorities had just stepped up an operation against what they called MQM’s militant wing before party leader Rasheed Godil’s attempted assassination. Party leaders are going into hiding “as if we were criminals”, one MPA said. “There is a lot of resentment against the party leadership as well as law enforcement agencies.”
The MQM has announced an end to its negotiations with the government, which is concerned about the party's resignation from the parliament, and had sent their ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to talk to them.
According to statistics provided by Pakistan Rangers, Rangers have conducted 5,785 operations since the beginning of the law-enforcement drive in Karachi, in which 10,353 suspects have been arrested. At least 826 have been classified as “terrorists”, 335 as “target killers”, and 296 have been accused of extortion.
“The Rangers are going from dealing with the bad to taking on the worse,” PTI's Faisal Vadwa says. “And they happen to belong to political groups who have been sheltering criminals.”
Many believe more high profile arrests are likely in the near future. It seems that the focus will largely be on the MQM. “Recently, we brought back a target killer from Dubai who confessed killing workers of an American oil company in Karachi,” a security official said. He claimed the man belonged to the MQM. The official said there were “two MQMs” – a criminal one and a political one. “The political one must stay.”
According to statistics taken from the Sindh Home Department, police and Rangers, 19% of the suspects arrested during the Karachi operation are said to be linked to the MQM. About 8% are said to belong to the ANP, 4% to Sunni Tehrik, and only 1% are said to be from the PPP. The numbers cannot be verified independently and the political parties usually distance themselves from suspected criminals. About 47% of the arrested suspects belong to TTP and associated groups.
It remains to be seen how the Karachi operation will affect the upcoming