MQM MNA Asif Hasnain arrested at Karachi airport

The parliamentarian had arrived at airport to board a flight, but apprehended by the Rangers.

The paramilitary force arrested him to probe whether he was ‘fleeing’ to escape possible arrest in view of several cases registered against MQM leaders.

He was elected MNA on MQM ticket in 2013 general elections from NA-255.

Earlier in the day, law enforcers arrested provincial lawmaker of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement, Sheraz Waheed, on charges of ‘facilitating’ hate speech.

Police claimed that the legislator was distributing CDs containing hate speeches. SSP Rao Anwar said the MPA had been taken into custody and will be investigated accordingly.

Mr. Waheed has been arrested by Super Highway police. The MQM leader was elected MPA from PS-123 Korangi.

Law enforcement agencies are cracking down on MQM offices and arresting activists and leaders on charges of listening to hate speech of party leader and indulging in violence.

Analysts believe that the current crackdown on the party was aimed at wiping out party head, who has a massive following among MQM voters in Karachi, from the mainstream politics.

Rangers raided the headquarters of MQM on Tuesday after its leader Altaf Hussain incited supporters to storm the office of ARY News.

The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained on Monday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party’s influential leader.

Sattar said that Monday’s violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Hussain when he criticised Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.