LAHORE (Staff Report) – Former minister for petroleum Dr Asim Hussain, who is currently in custody of Sindh Rangers on 90 days remand, has confessed to sheltering hundreds of target killers associated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Zia-ud-Din Hospital, investigators said on Tuesday.
Earlier, reliable sources told Daily Pakistan Global that the former PPP minister was arrested for having close links with MQM leadership and protecting the party’s workers involved in criminal activities.
Read more: Dr Asim was arrested for his links with MQM
Asim Hussain revealed his close ties with key MQM leaders including Dr Farooq Sattar, Dr Sagheer, Dr Nadeem Nusrat, Mustafa Azizabadi and Adil Siddiqui, and said that he appointed Dr Yousuf Sattar Memon as an executive upon request of MQM leaders.
He added that Memon is an “ideological” worker of MQM and has been treating and protecting MQM’s target killers in his hospitals located in North Nazimabad area of Karachi.
“Memon treated hundred of MQM associated target killers at my hospitals upon instruction of senior MQM leadership,” the PPP leader told the investigators. Most of these workers were those injured during criminal activities, he added.
Read more: Dr Asim destroyed PMDC: Saira
Hussain claimed that Memon used to visit MQM headquarters, Nine Zero, for checkup of party leaders and their families. The MQM workers also received up to 50% discount by Dr Yousuf Sattar Memon. The hospital used to send bills for treatment of MQM workers to Nine Zero which were afterwards paid through Khidmat-e-Khalaq Foundation (KKF) of the party.
While disclosing details about his relationship with Memon Dr Asim disclosed that he was hired as CMO at Zia-ud-Din hospital in 1989 however he left the job in 1990. Memon rejoined in 1992 and was appointed as hospital’s administrator in 1998. Moreover during all this time he was also working in Qatar Hospital as DMS but very occasionally visited the hospital. He was one of the key donors of MQM’s welfare trust KKF and donated large amount to the party after 2005’s earthquake as well.
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Former minister also told that his forefathers belonged to Indian city of Aligarh and that he visited India for 7-8 times in last decade. I last visited India as federal minister for petroleum in 2011, he said.
Earlier highly credible sources told Daily Pakistan Global that though Dr Asim Hussain is a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari yet he also enjoyed close ties with MQM as well, and that he was accused of being an MQM facilitator.
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“Dr Asim acted as a bridge between Pakistan Peoples Party and MQM, he has been accused of being MQM facilitator. During investigation by security agencies his name surface in many cases related to MQM. This is primarily the reason that he has been arrested under Protection of Pakistan Ordinance.”
“It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Asim, couple of days before his arrest, was present at former President Pervez Musharraf’s residence. He also bragged about him being ‘untouchable’ because of his connections at the ‘right place’.”
