Parveen Rehman murder: Sindh govt decides not to release suspects

KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party-led (PPP) Sindh government has decided against releasing the suspects, allegedly involved in murder of renowned rights activist Parveen Rehman, ARY News reported on Thursday.

According to details, the Sindh government decided not to release the alleged suspects for three months under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).

In the statement, the provincial government claimed that lives of family members of Parveen Rehman including her sister were under threat.

It is pertinent to mention here that Perveen Rehman, head of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), was gunned down near her office in Orangi Town on March 13, 2013.

Last month, Sindh High Court (SHC) overturned the death sentences handed over to the accused in Parveen Rehman murder case by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).

The accused Rahim Swati, Amjad Hussain, Ayaz Swati and Ahmed Hussain had challenged the ATC verdict in the Sindh High Court. After several hearings of the case, the SHC overturned the sentences awarded by the ATC.

The SHC overturned the death sentence awarded to the accused and ordered to free them if they were not wanted in any other case.

Read more: New JIT formed to probe OPP director Parween Rahman’s murder

The Karachi ATC, in December 2021, had awarded life imprisonment on two counts to four accused in the murder case of renowned rights activist.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge had sentenced Abdul Raheem Swati, Ahmed Khan, Amjad Hussain Khan and Ayaz Swati to life imprisonment.

All five of the accused were fined Rs200,000. The fifth accused, Imran Swati, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined an additional Rs200,000.