Imran Farooq murder: Scotland Yard seeks access to suspects in Pakistan

UK diplomat conveys his govt’s request to Nisar as ATC grants 90-day remand of ‘key suspect’

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI:

A man described as a ‘key suspect’ in the 2010 murder of Dr Imran Farooq, a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was remanded in the Rangers custody by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi as British authorities sought access to all suspects in the custody of Pakistani agencies.

British High Commissioner in Islamabad Philip Barton met Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday at the Punjab House to formally convey his government’s request for access to the three suspects. “Scotland Yard seeks access to all the suspects,” a senior official privy to the meeting told The Express Tribune.

He said Nisar and Barton exchanged documents regarding two important cases: Imran Farooq’s murder and MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s alleged inciting remarks against the law-enforcement agencies of Pakistan. “Barton briefed Nisar about his recent visit to London, where he conveyed Pakistan’s concerns about the MQM top leadership.”

Last month Pakistan had handed over a dossier to Barton after the MQM chief delivered a speech ‘inciting violence’ against the Rangers following a raid by the paramilitary force on the party’s headquarters Nine-Zero in Karachi, said the official. “Islamabad assures [British] investigators complete cooperation,” he quoted Nisar as saying.

An interior ministry official said a team of British detectives could revisit Karachi for investigation. “We shall witness more developments next week,” he added.

A day earlier, the interior minister said: “We have completed our homework, and shared all the information with the British government as well as Scotland Yard.” He said progress was being made in investigations due to the exchange of information. He clarified that the investigation into Imran Farooq’s murder “is not politically motivated”. “The probe is being carried out because those responsible for the murder need to be brought to justice,” he added.

Fifty-year-old Farooq was returning home from work on September 16, 2010, when he was killed in Green Lane near his London residence. According to his post-mortem examination report, he had suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to his head. The Nisar-Barton meeting came hours after a ‘key suspect’ in the Imran Farooq murder, identified as Moazzam Ali Khan, was remanded in the Rangers custody for 90 days by Karachi’s ATC-II.

Moazzam has been accused of arranging visas, tickets and accommodation in England for Mohsin Ali and Kashif Khan, Farooq’s suspected killers believed to be already in Pakistan’s custody. He was arrested in a pre-dawn raid from his house in Block 8 of Federal B Area near Azizabad in Karachi on Sunday.

Clad in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, a frail-looking Moazzam was brought before the judge-in-charge of the ATC Tuesday afternoon. The hearing took place inside the judge’s chamber, where the suspect stood shivering. He was eventually made to stand outside in the corridor.

The Rangers told the judge that they had credible information regarding Moazzam’s involvement in extortion, target killings and other acts punishable under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The paramilitary force sought a 90-day remand of the suspect for questioning.

The judge granted the request. The documents submitted in the ATC included the suspect’s detention order, jail warrants and other details, but nothing regarding Farooq’s murder. Therefore, he is not yet implicated in the MQM leader’s murder.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2015.