LONDON: On the fifth death anniversary of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) assassinated leader Imran Farooq, the London’s Metropolitan Police has released a statement saying some people may have provided help unwittingly in the murder case.
The statement says that detectives from the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) are investigating Doctor Farooq’s murder and remain committed to finding those responsible. They have spoken to 4,555 people, reviewed 7,697 documents, followed up 2,423 lines of inquiry and seized 4,325 exhibits.
It is thought Dr Farooq’s murder would have required careful planning and help from other people, some of whom may have provided assistance or information unwittingly.
Officers have been in regular contact with the Pakistani authorities to gather evidence that could assist in bringing to justice the killers of Dr Imran Farooq.
They have named two men as wanted in connection with the murder: Moshin Ali Syed, 30 a Pakistani national who was in the UK between February 2010 and 16 September 2010 and Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran, 36 a Pakistani national who was in the UK between early September 2010 and 16 September 2010.
“During interrogation, Mohsin Ali confessed before the Scotland Yard team that he worked with Moazzam Ali’s company, Com-net,” an FIA official said. The Scotland Yard team, in its first visit in June this year, quizzed Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim.
“We are in search of the fourth accused, Kashif, who is believed to be in Afghanistan,” a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency said. “Kashif carried out the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. We have now taken up this issue with Kabul,” he said. Dr Farooq was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his residence in London in 2010.
The official said that Kashif – along with the two other accused, Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim – slipped into Afghanistan years back in an effort to dodge the intelligence agencies.
“Mohsin and Khalid Shamim were arrested two months ago in Balochistan when they were returning to the homeland but Kashif did not return,” he said. The third accused, Moazzam Ali, was arrested in Karachi in April this year.
Whereas the statement continues that the three men previously arrested in connection with this investigation have all been released without charge:
A 39-year-old man arrested on 9 December 2010, at an address in Camden on suspicion of murder, and also on suspicion of robbery in October 2009. He was subsequently released without charge in March 2012.
A 54-year-old man arrested on 24 June, 2013, at Heathrow airport on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. He was subsequently released without charge in October 2014.
A 31-year-old arrested on 27 August, 2014 at an address in Waltham Forest in connection with the murder. He was subsequently released without charge in May 2015.
It is pertinent to mention here that all the accused in Imran Farooq murder case belong to MQM and the investigations indicate that probably he was killed on the directives of the party chief.
