First time in a decade: Pakistan extradites man to UK to face murder charge

ISLAMABAD: In a rare move, Pakistan has extradited a man who is wanted for a double murder in Britain, officials said on Thursday.

In a statement, the West Yorkshire police confirmed that Mohammed Zubair, who was 31 at the time of the crime, has been charged with murdering 27-year-old Imran Khan, and 35-year old Ahmedin Sayed Khyel in New Lane, Tong in May 2011.

“After five years, West Yorkshire police has managed to arrange the extradition of Mohammed Zubair, who has been held in custody in Pakistan since November 2013,” the statement quoted Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson as saying.

“I would like to praise the Pakistani authorities for their assistance and endeavours in not only securing his arrest, but also ensuring his extradition back to the UK,” he added.

The West Yorkshire police added that Zubair’s extradition from Pakistan is the first in nearly 10.

Zubair was on Thursday presented before a Bradford magistrates court which remanded him to police custody.

A senior official at the interior ministry confirmed that Zubair had been “extradited very recently”. Officials, however, did not confirm Zubair’s nationality.

Meanwhile in Islamabad, British High Commissioner Thomas Drew thanked the Pakistani authorities for their assistance.

“I am delighted that the hard work of the Pakistani authorities, West Yorkshire police and the British High Commission has paid off,” he said, adding that the extradition shows the value of British-Pakistani cooperation.

Pakistan and Britain do not have an extradition treaty between them but the two countries have cooperated in recent years on a case-by-case basis to solve major crime cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2016.