Imran Farooq case: Scotland Yard team quizzes Mohsin Ali

ISLAMABAD:

Edging ever closer to concluding its investigation into Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq’s murder case, a Scotland Yard team on Wednesday quizzed one of key suspects, Mohsin Ali.

A three-member investigation team of London Metropolitan Police after meeting with a joint investigation team’s (JIT) head Inam Ghani, questioned Mohsin Ali. Dr Imran Farooq’s was bludgeoned and stabbed to death close to his residence in London in 2010.

“Scotland Yard team will conclude its investigation in Pakistan this week,” a senior official of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told The Express Tribune. The team has recorded Mohsin Ali’s statement and will meet other officials from Rangers, the FIA and interior ministry, he added.

Pakistan gave access to the UK authorities to the key accused in the murder case days after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar met British Home Secretary Theresa May in London. According to the official, Nisar and his counterpart discussed “an option of handing all three of the accused to the Scotland Yard.”

“The interior minister took up the issues of the MQM supremo’s anti-state speeches as well as Baloch separatists’ presence in the UK which stoke unrest in Karachi and Balochistan, respectively,” he added.

The Metropolitan Police believes that their investigation could not be concluded without including Mohsin’s statement. “There is a strong possibility that the team will stay on,” an FIA official revealed.



“It seems to be a reciprocal job, the London Police is also sharing information about the MQM’s top leadership with us,” he claimed.

Mohsin Ali is said to be in the custody of intelligence agencies and the JIT of FIA is assisting the visiting team. Ali was arrested together with another accused, Khalid Shamim, by the Frontier Corps in Balochistan two months ago.

In July, the Scotland Yard in its maiden visit to Islamabad quizzed two other accused, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim. Moazzam Ali Khan was arrested by law enforcement agencies in Karachi this year.

Before this development, authorities in Islamabad were indecisive about giving access to London Police to the third accused or not.  “We’ve yet to decide whether to allow the authorities to question Mohsin who is also involved in 13 cases of targeted killings,” an interior ministry official had told The Express Tribune.

The government formed the JIT after the BBC revealed that the MQM was being funded by Indian intelligence agency. It also submitted its preliminary report on Dr Farooq’s murder case to the Interior Ministry last month, the officer revealed.  “This team also shared findings with the London Police in July this year,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd,  2015.