Dr Imran Farooq. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: After a lapse of almost five months, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday submitted an interim charge-sheet in the Imran Farooq murder case before an anti-terrorism court (ATC).
The interim charge sheet submitted before ATC-I Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi revealed that evidence from the UK and Sri Lanka was still required for further investigation to wrap up the case. “The investigation in the case is in progress,” the charge-sheet said.
In the document, the FIA said that three suspects, Khalid Shamim, Syed Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali Khan, were in custody and relevant incriminatory material was available to connect them with the commission of the crime.
The FIA maintained that at the time of Dr Farooq’s murder, Mohsin held him from the back and another suspect, Kashif Khan Kamran, first hit him with a brick on his head and then stabbed him in the chest with a knife, which proved fatal and resulted in his death.
Kamran, who according to the FIA is a co-accused and allegedly helped Mohsin in killing Dr Farooq, was apparently still on the run. Previously, some officials speculated that he may have been picked up by intelligence agencies and died in their custody.
The charge-sheet also added that the suspects jointly and in connivance with each other conspired, assisted, abetted and committed murder of Dr Farooq to ‘remove the threat to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leadership and to intimidate public in general and workers and members in particular by creating a sense of fear and insecurity in them’.
The trial begins on May 12 and will be held in Adiala Jail due to security reasons.
Meanwhile, the ATC directed the FIA to appoint a prosecutor in the case and added that the FIA may also provide copies of the charge-sheet to the parties in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2016.
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