London –
14 February 2000
Today at around 11.30 a.m., personnel of law enforcement agencies
in plain clothes arrested Mr Shahab Ikram, Member of MQM Zonal
Committee, Hyderabad. According to details, Mr Shahab Ikram was
sitting at a shop in the Furniture Market at Latifabad, Hyderabad,
when personnel of law enforcement agencies in plain clothes
riding on several motorcycles cordoned off the area, raided the
shop and arrested him. According to eyewitnesses, he was
immediately taken to the Gulshan-e-Haali Police Station. However,
when Mr Arif Razmi MPA and Mr Afzal Ahmed Shah MPA, belonging to
the MQM, visited the Police Station, the police denied arresting
Mr Shahab Ikram.
Keeping in view the policy of the Establishment against the MQM,
we strongly apprehend that the life of Mr Shahab Ikram is in
extreme danger and he might be subjected to brutal torture while
in police custody.