Farooq Sattar booked for rioting after leading protest over missing schoolgirl

Karachi police on Thursday registered a case against Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar and 80-90 other unknown persons over charges of rioting after the politician allegedly led a violent protest on Wednesday night after a schoolgirl went "missing" in PIB Colony, said Gulshan SP Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto.

The girl had apparently fled along with a schoolmate and both she and the boy were recovered safely from Surjani Town on Thursday, the officer said.

Speaking at a press conference, SP Bhutto said the 14-year-old girl had gone missing on Wednesday. Her parents approached the private school where she studied, but the school's administration informed them that the girl had arrived at the school very late and was asked to go home. However, it turned out that she had not returned home. The family subsequently approached the area's police.

Late on Wednesday night, relatives of the girl and area residents, led by Sattar, allegedly resorted to violence while protesting against the girl's alleged abduction.

The protesters allegedly provoked the area's residents into burning tyres and blocked traffic around Central Jail, SP Bhutto said.

Unidentified people shattered the windows of cars that passed by using sticks. The protesters also raised slogans against law enforcement agencies, the SP said.

Meanwhile, another resident approached the police late on Wednesday, stating that his son had also gone missing, a PIB police official told Dawn.

The police on Thursday conducted a raid in Taiser Town of Surjani area and recovered both the girl and the boy.

The Gulshan SP believed that the girl had not been kidnapped; instead, she had gone along with her classmate as she "liked" him.

The police have registered a first information report (No. 189/2018) against Dr Sattar and others under Sections 147, 149, 140, 341 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The charges deal with rioting, unlawful assembly and mischief.

The case has been registered on behalf of the state, the officer said.