On the fifth anniversary of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq’s death, the London’s Metropolitan Police has released a statement saying some people may have provided assistance unwittingly during investigations for the high-profile murder case.
While reiterating its commitment to solve the murder case of the MQM leader, in a statement issued on Wednesday the Met Police said the “Dr Farooq’s murder would have required careful planning and help from other people, some of whom may have provided assistance or information unwittingly.”
Giving details of the investigation conducted so far, the statement said the detectives from Met Police’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) to date have interviewed “4,555 people, reviewed 7,697 documents, followed up 2,423 lines of inquiry and seized 4,325 exhibits.”
Farooq was 50 when, on September 16, 2010, he was murdered in Green Lane near his London residence. His autopsy report said he had suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.
Farooq had gone into hiding in 1992 after a government-mandated military crackdown was launched against the MQM in Karachi. He sought asylum in Britain seven years later.
Earlier a three-member Scotland Yard team concluded its investigation into the case and left for London.
During its three-day visit to Islamabad, the Scotland Yard officials quizzed, Mohsin Ali, who, according to senior FIA officials, confessed to his involvement in this crime.
“During interrogation, Mohsin Ali confessed before the Scotland Yard team that he worked with Moazzam Ali’s company, Com-net,” an FIA official said. The Scotland Yard team, in its first visit in June this year, quizzed Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim.
Soon after the Scotland Yard team left for London, Pakistan widened the scope of the investigation into Dr Imran Farooq’s murder case.
“We are in search of the fourth accused, Kashif, who is believed to be in Afghanistan,” a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the media.
“Kashif carried out the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. We have now taken up this issue with Kabul,” he said. Dr Farooq was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his residence in London in 2010.
The official said that Kashif – along with the two other accused, Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim – slipped into Afghanistan years back in an effort to dodge the intelligence agencies.
“Mohsin and Khalid Shamim were arrested two months ago in Balochistan when they were returning to the homeland but Kashif did not return,” he said. The third accused, Moazzam Ali, was arrested in Karachi in April this year.
