FIA concocted evidence in Dr Farooq case: counsel
Counsel says MQM founding member had numerous enemies; questions his wife’s contradictory statements
Dr Imran Farooq. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Counsels for the accused in MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq murder case have claimed that the alleged bank documents and attendance sheets of a United Kingdom university – presented by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as evidence against the accused – are fake.
Dr Imran Farooq, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in London in September 2010.
Later in 2015, the FIA also registered a case against the MQM founder Altaf Hussain for allegedly ordering the murder while nominating 3 other accused – Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali.
However, on May 13 the suspects retracted their confessional statements before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge Shahrukh Arjumand and recorded their fresh statements at a hearing held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The suspects decided not to present any witnesses for their defence.
At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the counsel for Mohsin Ali said the FIA forced his client to confess the crime under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 164. He said the FIA officials concocted the statement after taking a signature of the accused on a plain paper.
He said Dr Imran Farooq was assassinated in London in 2010 but the FIA registered a case five years later. “Dr Imran Farooq was himself an absconder. The state had announced a bounty on him and he had a number of enemies,” he said.
The counsel said the statement of Dr Farooq’s wife was also full of contradictions.
“In the statement that she gave before London Police, she accused MQM founder Altaf Hussain of the murder but in her statement submitted to the court she apparently retracted her claim,” he said.
He said his client Mohsin Ali had gone to London for higher education and has no connection with the murder. The counsel also pointed out that the sketch developed on the basis of an eyewitness account also does not match with his client.
The counsel for another accused Moazzam Ali said his client was a businessman who travelled a lot to the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries for business dealings.
He said the FIA was trying to link the banking transaction of a businessman with the murder. He said Moazzam was part of the MQM but the association with a political party is not a crime.
The court ordered the FIA prosecutor to complete his arguments today (Thursday).
Counsels for the accused in MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq murder case have claimed that the alleged bank documents and attendance sheets of a United Kingdom university – presented by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as evidence against the accused – are fake.
Dr Imran Farooq, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in London in September 2010.
Later in 2015, the FIA also registered a case against the MQM founder Altaf Hussain for allegedly ordering the murder while nominating 3 other accused – Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali.
However, on May 13 the suspects retracted their confessional statements before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge Shahrukh Arjumand and recorded their fresh statements at a hearing held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The suspects decided not to present any witnesses for their defence.
At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the counsel for Mohsin Ali said the FIA forced his client to confess the crime under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 164. He said the FIA officials concocted the statement after taking a signature of the accused on a plain paper.
He said Dr Imran Farooq was assassinated in London in 2010 but the FIA registered a case five years later. “Dr Imran Farooq was himself an absconder. The state had announced a bounty on him and he had a number of enemies,” he said.
The counsel said the statement of Dr Farooq’s wife was also full of contradictions.
“In the statement that she gave before London Police, she accused MQM founder Altaf Hussain of the murder but in her statement submitted to the court she apparently retracted her claim,” he said.
He said his client Mohsin Ali had gone to London for higher education and has no connection with the murder. The counsel also pointed out that the sketch developed on the basis of an eyewitness account also does not match with his client.
The counsel for another accused Moazzam Ali said his client was a businessman who travelled a lot to the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries for business dealings.
He said the FIA was trying to link the banking transaction of a businessman with the murder. He said Moazzam was part of the MQM but the association with a political party is not a crime.
The court ordered the FIA prosecutor to complete his arguments today (Thursday).