Court rules 'absconding' Altaf ordered Imran Farooq's murder.

Byline: Malik Asad

ISLAMABAD -- The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad on Thursday convicted three accused in the decade-old murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq and jailed them for life.

ATC judge Shahrukh Arjumand announced the verdict in the open court.

'The prosecution remained successful in proving the case against accused by producing confidence aspiring evidence. Case in hand is a fit one for awarding death penalty, however, as an ordinance has been promulgated to amend Pakistan Penal Code 1860 whereby, in the cases where evidence is shared by a foreign country death penalty cannot be given,' the court ruled.

The accused Syed Mohsin Ali, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim were thus convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. They were also imposed a fine of Rs1.2 million each.

According to a First Information Report registered by the Counter Terrorism Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency, 'assassination of Dr Imran Farooq was result of conspiracy hatched in United Kingdom and Pakistan, by Altaf Hussain, the head of Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Muhammad Anwar, senior member of MQM and Iftikhar Hussain. In result of conspiracy Khalid Shamim and Moazzam Ali facilitated and sent Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran along with Syed Mohsin Ali to United Kingdom for murdering Dr Imran Farooq. Later on Dr Imran Farooq was killed in Green Lane, Edgeware area of London on 16 of September, 2010 at 17:30 GMT.'

Three jailed for life in decade-old case

In the first phase of the case, 13 Pakistan-based witnesses were examined by March 28, 2019. On April 25, 2019 statements of the accused were recorded.

Stuart Greenaway, detective chief inspector of Metropolitan Police Services, United Kingdom, came along with evidence to Pakistan and recorded his statement while 15 other UK-based witnesses also recorded their statements via video link.

Mr Greenaway was the senior investigating officer authorised by UK police authorities for looking into the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. He supervised the overall investigation process which was given the code name of Operation Hastor.

Special Prosecutor Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz argued before the court that with prior design and motive accused facing trial Syed Moshin Ali with absconding accused Kashif Khan Kamran was sent to the UK to silence the voice of Dr Farooq who was emerging as a potential threat to Altaf Hussain.

He said a gruesome murder was committed in London creating sense of...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT