Police claim Waseem Akhtar admitted to involvement in May 12 carnage

KARACHI:  Strong evidence against Muttahida Qaumi Movement nominated mayor Waseem Akhtar’s involvement in the May 12 massacre has been found, according to a challan presented by the police on Wednesday.

The challan presented in the anti-terrorism court accuses 56 people including the nominated mayor Waseem Akhtar, MPA Muhammad Adnan and Kamran Farooqi for involvement in the May 12, 2007 massacre which took place in Karachi leaving 40 people dead.

According to details in the challan, nominated mayor Waseem Akhtar has confessed to being involved in the May 12 massacre. Waseem Akhtar also identified an important accused Aslam Kala, who was arrested by police, the challan stated.

Weapons used in the May 12 massacre were recovered from Aslam Kala, the challan adds.

Higher security officials will be contacted for a JIT over the incident, while PEMRA will be asked for related footage, the challan added.

Karachi on May 12, 2007 saw its worst bloodbath when the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar was not allowed to leave the Jinnah International Airport. He had arrived in Karachi to join the lawyer’s march against the then military dictator Pervez Musharaf.

The challan accusing Waseem Akhtar for involvement in the May 12 massacre comes at a time when the mayoral elections are underway. Waseem Akhtar is in prison. There is strong possibility that he will become the city’s mayor, the first who would run the largest city in Pakistan from jail.