ISLAMABAD: A team from Britain’s Scotland Yard (London Metropolitan Police) arrived in Islamabad on Saturday in relation to the investigation of the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.
Islamabad had requested that a team visit Pakistan and assist in an ongoing investigation into the murder case as under way in Pakistan. The team is also expected to be taken to meet suspects who are in custody of Pakistani authorities.
The team is scheduled to start its investigation from Monday and will carry out its operations under high security.
Earlier this week, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that the accused said to be linked to the murder of Dr Farooq would be brought to Islamabad where British authorities would question them in the coming days.
He had said that a two-member team of the Met Police would arrive in the capital by the end of the week, adding that the size of the team may be increased.
In April this year, the interior minister had announced the arrest of Moazzam Ali, a man from Karachi whom he had described as the primary suspect in Dr Farooq’s murder case.
Meanwhile, last week, two men identified as Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim wanted in the murder case of Dr Farooq were said to have been taken in custody from near the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman.
MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq, aged 50, was on his way home from work when he was murdered in Green Lane on September 16, 2010 outside his London home. A post-mortem examination found that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.
Farooq claimed asylum in Britain in 1999. He was wanted in Pakistan over scores of charges including torture and murder but always claimed the accusations were politically-motivated.
He had twice been elected as a lawmaker in Pakistan but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered a military crackdown against MQM activists in Karachi.
The latest developments come as a recent report by the BBC claimed that MQM may have received funding from Indian authorities.
According to the report which quotes an unnamed “authoritative Pakistani source”, MQM officials told UK authorities that they received funds from New Delhi.
The report added that UK authorities investigating MQM for alleged money laundering also found a list of weapons in a property associated with the party.
The report said British authorities held formal recorded interviews with senior MQM officials who told them the party was receiving Indian funding.
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