Shahid Hamid murder case: 27 years later, two accused set free

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday acquitted two men in the 27-year-old murder case of former Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) (now known as KE) Managing Director Shahid Hamid, citing lack of evidence.

The court exonerated Minhaj Qazi, former security in-charge of MQM’s Nine-Zero headquarters, and co-accused Mehboob Ghufran. Both had been on trial for their alleged involvement in the 1997 assassination.

According to the prosecution, Shahid Hamid was gunned down in Karachi in 1997, in a high-profile case that drew national attention. In 1999, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced key accused Saulat Mirza to death. He was executed in Machh Jail in Balochistan in 2015, following his appearance on national television where he told his story before his hanging. The FIR had been registered by Defence Police against Saulat Mirza, Minhaj Qazi and others. With Qazi and Ghufran now acquitted, the case appears to have reached a legal conclusion more than 25 years after the murder.

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Shahid Hamid Murder Case

The Shahid Hamid murder case dates back to July 5, 1997, when Shahid Hamid, then managing director of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), was gunned down in Karachi’s Defence area along with his driver and guard. The case gained prominence due to allegations of political motivations and the high-profile nature of the victim.

According to Dawn, the prosecution said that Shahid Hamid had been working to reform KESC and root out corruption, which brought him into conflict with certain elements within the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which allegedly had influence over the organisation and its unions. Witnesses later alleged that several senior MQM leaders, including Dr Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, and Nasreen Jalil, had threatened Hamid and sought his removal. In 1999, MQM worker Saulat Mirza was convicted by an anti-terrorism court and sentenced to death for his role in the killing.

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Years later, in 2016, Rangers arrested Minhaj Qazi, a former security in-charge at MQM’s Nine-Zero headquarters, placing him under 90-day preventive detention before formally booking him in the case. During an identification parade held at the City Courts under tight security, Shahid Hamid’s widow, Shahnaz Hamid, and son, police officer Omar Shahid Hamid, identified Qazi as one of the four attackers. They stated that they had witnessed the shooting and previously identified Saulat Mirza as well.

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Qazi, however, claimed he was tortured in custody and argued that his repeated appearance in the media made the identification unreliable. The magistrate noted his objections but said the matter would be addressed in trial. Omar Shahid Hamid, the son of Shahid Hamid who identifies as a counterterrorism professional is also a widely acclaimed author, and is known for pursuing his father’s case.