MQM's ex-MPA Kamran Farooqi booked over social media threat post

Karachi’s Garden Police have registered a case against former Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh (MPA) Kamran Farooqui under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and Section 506 for issuing threats and making inflammatory remarks online, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday.

According to police sources, the case (FIR No 454/2025) was filed at Garden Police Station on behalf of the state by police officer ASI Rao Muhammad Shah Rukh.

The officer stated in his report that he was on duty at the Garden Police Station along with Sub-Inspector Zafar Iqbal when, around 6 pm, he saw a video on the Facebook page “Zarai News”.

In the video, a man identified as Kamran Farooqui said, “Today a dumper ran over a child; it was his fortune that he escaped moments earlier, otherwise he would have been burnt alive with his vehicle. This is the public’s reaction.”

The complainant added that the post accompanying the video mentioned, “It was Liaquat Mehsud’s luck that he escaped a few moments earlier; otherwise, he and his vehicle would have been burnt alive (Kamran Farooqui).”

The officer stated that both he and his colleague read and heard the same content online.

He further noted that the video appeared in connection with an incident the previous night, in which a dumper truck (registration number TAM-812) had struck a motorcyclist named Shahzaib on Nishtar Road in the Ramswami area within Garden Police Station jurisdiction, killing him and injuring his wife. In the aftermath, angry residents set the dumper on fire.

Later, the president of the Dumper Association, Liaquat Mehsud, arrived at the scene with his guards and others. Police sources said two separate FIRs had already been registered regarding that incident.

According to the complainant, comments of MQM-P's former MPA Kamran Farooqui on social media amounted to spreading incitement and issuing threats of violence, which fall under Section 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the PECA Act of 2016, and both are cognisable offences.

The FIR concluded that a case had been registered against Kamran Farooqui, and the investigation would be conducted by the Garden Division’s Crime Investigation Cell (CIC).

Reporter: Osama Malik