An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Monday accepted the 14-day physical remand of three suspects accused in the murder of former Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.
The suspects – Muazzam Ali Khan, Khalid Shamim, and Mohsin Ali Syed – were presented in court where law enforcers requested a 14-day physical remand from the judge. The court had earlier already reserved its judgment, which it announced today, granting the request for the remand.
Dr Farooq, a prominent member of the MQM was murdered in 2010 outside his residence in London because of multiple stabs and a blow to his head.
The former MQM leader was twice elected as an MP in Pakistan, but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered a military crackdown against party activists in Karachi. He later claimed asylum in Britain in 1999.
Earlier this month, the government registered a case for the former MQM leader’s murder in Pakistan against suspects Muazzam Ali Khan, Kashif Khan Kamran, Mohsin Ali Syed, and Khalid Shamim.
A case was also lodged against MQM Chief Altaf Hussain and MQM senior leader Mohammad Anwar, and Iftikhar Hussain, who is said to be a close aide of the MQM chief.
The case was filed by Federal Investigation Authority’s (FIA) counter-terrorism wing in Islamabad under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
