- Per Met Police, Dr Farooq’s murder required help from people who may have provided assistance or information ‘unwittingly’
- Mohsin Ali Syed and Kashif Khan Kamran named wanted in connection with murder
On the fifth anniversary of the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) convener Dr Imran Farooq, London’s Metropolitan Police has reaffirmed its commitment for the investigation of the case, saying its detectives “remain committed to finding those responsible”.
In a summary published on its official website Wednesday, the Scotland Yard shared details of the progress in Dr Farooq’s murder investigation. “In connection with the probe, detectives from the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command said 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,” the Scotland Yard said in the report.
It says Met Police officers have been in regular contact with Pakistani authorities in order to collect evidence that could help in bringing to justice the killers of Dr Farooq.
According to the report, Met Police officers named Mohsin Ali Syed and Kashif Khan Kamran as the two men wanted in connection with the murder. Mohsin, 30, is a Pakistani national who lived in the UK between February 2010 and September 16, 2010 while Kashif, 36, is the other Pakistani national named in the murder case who was in the UK between early September 2010 and September 16, 2010.
Scotland Yard arrested three other people in connection with the investigation, but they were all released without charge, said its report.
Mohsin and Kashif were said to have acquired British visa on the basis of their admission to the London Academy of Management Sciences in East London. Mohsin went to the UK in February, 2010, and lived in a number of places in London. Kashif reached there in early September, 2010.
According to information shared by the UK, phone records showed that the two usually moved together and were allegedly in contact with a close relative of MQM chief Altaf Hussain. They left UK on September 16, 2010, hours after the murder for Sri Lanka before travelling to Karachi on September 19.
Mohsin Ali was arrested along with another accused, Khalid Shamim, by the Frontier Corps in Balochistan about two months ago.
During its visit to Islamabad in July, the Scotland Yard team quizzed Khalid Shamim and another accused, Moazzam Ali Khan, who was arrested by law-enforcement agencies in Karachi this year. Moazzam Ali Khan was accused of arranging tickets, visa and finances for the UK visit of Mohsin and Kashif.
It has been reported that the Metropolitan Police have reasons to believe that Mohsin and Kashif stabbed Dr Farooq to death before fleeing the country. The whereabouts of Kashif are not known and there are rumours that he is not alive.
Shamim is accused of being a part of the murder plot and investigations suggest that he had met Mohsin and Kashif and arranged their meeting with Moazzam Ali Khan.
A three-member team of Scotland Yard returned to London on September 4 after interrogating Mohsin Ali as part of the probe. The team had come to Pakistan recently when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was in the UK holding talks with British authorities.
Scotland Yard has asked people who can provide any information in relation to the murder probe to come forward and contact the police, assuring that the information will be dealt with sensitivity.
