ISLAMABAD: The government circles have drawn the attention of presidency towards the matter that the the mercy petition of Saulat Mirza, the convict of Karachi’s target killings, which remained pending for four years in the Governor’s House Sindh (2004 to 2008) is now gathering dust in the Interior Ministry since 2008 and not being sent to the Presidency.
Mirza is a convicted target killer who committed 58 murders after being released on parole in 2004. Sindh Police officials claim Mirza belongs to the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and is the only person convicted for Karachi’s target killings and was arrested for the July 1997 killing of the then MD of KESC Malik Shahid Hamid when he returned from Bangkok at the Karachi airport in December 1998.
The record reveals that on May 24, 1999, Mirza was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in Karachi after he was found guilty of murdering Hamid, his driver, Ashraf Brohi and guard Khan Akbar. The Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed Mirza’s appeals against the death penalty on January 21, 2000, and September 14, 2001, respectively.
The SC also rejected the review appeal on March 9, 2004. According to law, the government circles say, Mirza should have been executed after the disposal of his mercy petition. Number of methods were tried to get him off the hook including threatening heirs of Shahid Hamid to grant Saulat mercy under qisas in 2003.
Officials say that in 2004, the governor of Sindh even attempted to have the constitutional pardon powers of the president transferred to himself, so that he could grant mercy to Saulat. For four years, the file for Saulat’s mercy petition was delayed in the Governor’s house, whereas the legal time limit for the execution of a convict is seven days from the announcement of the final appeal.
Finally the file reached the Interior ministry in 2008, where it is gathering dust instead of being forwarded to the Presidency. Police officials say that such practices by the political governments are disheartening the police.
The police officials also reveal that Mirza was running the target killers networks from his jail cell and no one dared to stop him from any of his activity as a jail official Amanullah Niazi was shot dead in 2006 when he tried to interfere with Mirza’s activities.
Police officials even reveal that jail authorities ignore the strict warnings of the top intelligence agencies to check Mirza’s activities because of fear for their lives. Mirza was transferred to interior Sindh jail in July but was brought back to Karachi jail under political pressure.
On the other hand these top police officials reveal that notorious target killer Ajmal Pahari has allegedly committed 111 murders in different target killing incidents. Ajmal Pahari was released on parole along with his 45 companions in 2004 and police say all those released indulged in target killings again.
Haider Abbas Rizvi, however, in his Friday interview said that Ajmal Pahari was innocent and his innocence will be proved in a court of law. Pahari has revealed before the JIT that this was the party policy that “if arrested, you can reveal everything to avoid beating, because the party will deny it subsequently.” The police say that Pahari was wanted in 54 murders before he was paroled, and after his release, he committed 58 more killings.
Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=8721&Cat=13
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