- Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim had reportedly crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan when they were allegedly nabbed by FC
- Khalid Shamim is accused of facilitating the murderers while Mohsin Ali allegedly carried out the killing
Two men said to be linked to the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) convener Dr Imran Farooq were held near the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, it was confirmed on Thursday.
The accused— identified as Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim by Frontier Corps (FC) spokesman— are wanted in the murder case of the senior MQM leader.
“Both suspects belong to a political party based in Karachi,” FC spokesperson Khalid Wasey said without disclosing the name of the political party. The accused were handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for interrogation after important revelations, Wasey said.
FC arrested both men when they entered Pakistan from Afghanistan. “Both accused were apprehended at Addah Kahol area of the border,” the spokesman said, giving no further details. Wasey said the Federal Interior Ministry was also informed of the arrests.
An important breakthrough is expected in the Imran Farooq murder case, a security official who declined to be named said.
The source added that both suspects had been based in neighbouring Afghanistan for a long time. FIA and district administration of Killa Abdullah have decided to shift the accused from Chaman to Quetta, for which strict security arrangements have been made.
Khalid Shamim, according to a petition filed by his wife in the Sindh High Court, has been missing since January 6, 2011, and was an accounts officer of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
Shamim, according to a progress report placed on record on the SHC’s order, was also involved in another murder case registered at the Model Colony Police Station.
A 2014 BBC report refers to the same petition in the Sindh High Court, and mentions Khalid Shamim as another man “believed to have helped the two suspects [Imran Farooq’s alleged murderers] return to Pakistan.”
The other man said to be arrested by FC on Thursday —Mohsin Ali— is mentioned in the same report as one of the two suspects who are believed to have travelled from Pakistan to London to assassinate Imran Farooq.
In April this year, when Federal Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan announced the arrest of Moazzam Ali Khan from Karachi, who was also allegedly involved in Imran Farooq’s murder.
“The two other men who were suspected [of being involved in the murder], they were poor people,” referring to the two Pakistani nationals —29-year-old Mohsin Ali Syed and 34-year-old Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran — wanted by British authorities investigating the murder.
MQM DENIES LINKS WITH SUSPECTS:
The MQM has meanwhile, in a statement, denied that the party has any affiliation with either Khalid Shamim or Mohsin Ali Syed.
The party said that for the last four years, there were reports that the men had been arrested and were in the custody of some security agency, but their arrest was only made public on Thursday.
