Shahid Hamid murder case: Suspect confesses to involvement

KARACHI: One of the main accused in the killing of then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Managing Director Shahid Hamid confessed to his involvement on Tuesday.

The accused, Mehboob Ghufran alias Shehzada, was arrested last month.

The suspect recorded his confession in front of the magistrate and said four people including him had opened fire on Hamid’s vehicle.

Ghufran said that the car which was used by the suspects was parked at his apartment after the crime.

In his confessional statement, Ghufran said Saulat Mirza, Minhaj Qazi, Rashid Akhtar, Asif Bari and him were directed to kill Hamid by Nadeem Nusrat on the orders of the Muttahida Quami Movement's (MQM) London-based founder.

Ghufran said that he was a member of the MQM since 1986.

“During the time we were hiding, Nusrat used to send money through telegraphic transfer,” he said, adding that after Qazi’s arrest he went into hiding.

Police informed on August 26 that Ghufran was arrested from Jamshoro. He was the last accused in the high-profile murder case, police said.

MQM's Mirza, one of the prime accused in the murder case, was arrested by SSP Chaudhry Aslam in 1998 from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.

During the investigation, Mirza named his accomplices and confessed to having killed Hamid.

Mirza was executed in Balochistan’s Machh Jail in 2015 after an anti-terrorism court had sentenced him to death.

Qazi, another accused in the murder case, was arrested by the Rangers and placed under detention for inquiry in his alleged involvement in terrorism cases. He was later handed over to the police and was formally arrested in Hamid’s murder case.