MQM couriers licences to police

KARACHI - The MQM has sent via courier service the licences of the weapons recovered during a raid at the party headquarters Nine-Zero to the police station concerned with covering letter for verification.
During the drive of targeted operation in Karachi, the Rangers conducted a raid on March 11, at the MQM Headquarters. Beside the arrest of over hundred alleged criminals, including absconder, the Rangers claimed to have recovered over 150 weapons.
Colonel Tahir Mehmood, who had headed the operation, told newsmen that prohibited weapons and Nato-stolen weapons were included in the weapons recovered from the MQM headquarters.
The weapons recovered during operation included five G-3 rifles, 23 sub machineguns (SMGs), two light machineguns (LMGs), 22 shotguns, 19 rifles of 7mm, four 8mm rifles, two 223 rifles, 25 rifles of .22, three 222 rifles, one M-4 and one TT pistol, four 9mm pistols, six silencers, five telescopes, 36 walkie-talkie sets and two bulletproof jackets.
MQM Coordination Committee member Haider Abbas Rizvi, while talking to The Nation, revealed that his party fulfilled all legal obligations and the license holders individually contacted Azizabad Police Station to provide the copies of licenses and permits of the weapons recovered from the headquarters.
Rizvi said that Azizabad police seemed reluctant to adopt the legal procedure and declined to receive the copies of licenses. He said that the licenses have been sent to the police station through courier companies.
“We don’t have any problem to send the copies of licenses to Rangers as well and we would send the accumulated copies to Rangers.”
He said that Azizabad police could only lodged the FIR of the illegal weapons; therefore the MQM has sent the coppices of licenses and permits to the police station for verification. He pointed out that majority of the weapons the Rangers claimed to have recovered were on the licenses of parliamentarians including MNAs and MPAs.
It is worth mentioning here that the US foreign office had disowned the weapons and ruled out Karachi as transit routes for Nato weapon supplies. A weapon dealer wished to be anonymous revealed that except two LMGs, all other weapons the Rangers claimed to have recovered during the raid are available in the market and could be obtained by any Pakistani on license and permits.
The Rangers spokesperson when contacted said that they have not received any license or other document so far in this regard.