KARACHI - Saulat Mirza, who had been awarded capital punishment on the charge of killing KESC Managing Director Shahid Hamid along with his driver and a guard in 1997, was hanged to death in Mach Jail on Tuesday.
Saulat’s body was taken to Quetta from where it was carried to Karachi by PK-363. Scores of people, including his family members and friends, reached cargo terminal of the Jinnah International Airport to receive the body.
After the completion of the final rites at the morgue, his body was taken to the deceased’s home in Gulshan-e-Maymar where funeral prayer was held in a mosque near his residence. Later, he was buried in Muhammad Shah graveyard in North Karachi.
Saulat’s wife and sister were with the body in the ambulance outside their home in Gulshan-e-Maymar. His wife kept on raising questions why the authorities had given them a false ray of hope when they had decided to hang him.
She was repeatedly saying: “Why did they halt the execution for some time if they weren’t willing to save him?” She alleged political issues were settled over Saulat’s execution. Imran, a friend of Saulat, while talking to The Nation, said whatever Saulat and his family had done in the last few days was the result of a deal as the authorities had assured his family of his safe release. He said Saulat did whatever the authorities asked him to do, but deceived him finally.
Saulat’s revelations suspended his execution for a month while a joint interrogation team (JIT) was formed to probe the allegations of Saulat against the MQM leadership. Another inquiry ahead of video recording inside the jail was also initiated, but all such inquiries ended without any conclusion. Saulat’s wife knocked at every door to save his husband’s life. Her last plea ahead of the date of execution was rejected by the Sindh High Court on May 8.
It’s worth mentioning here that the execution was suspended on March 19 when Saulat made startling revelations about Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chief Altaf Hussain and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the killing of KESC Managing Director Shahid Hamid in 1997 along with his driver and a guard. Saulat managed to flee from the country and returned in 1999. Later, he was arrested and found guilty in the same year. Saulat’s affiliation with the party was formally disowned by MQM.
Agencies add from Quetta: Saulat Mirza was hanged at 4:30am on Tuesday, said Sikandar Kakar, a senior official at Machh jail in Balochistan where the convict had been imprisoned.
“A doctor examined his health just before the execution and declared him fully fit,” Kakar said, adding the convict apologised to all jail inmates and staff for any offence he had committed before heading to face the gallows.