- Murder was meant to be “a birthday gift” for Altaf Hussain, Shamim said
- All the planning took place at Nine-Zero
Khalid Shamim, a prime suspect in Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) leader Imran Farooq’s murder case, on Thursday confessed of his role in the murder and alleged Altaf Hussain was also involved.
Imran Farooq was murdered in Edgeware in 2010. Shahmin is believed to be master-mind of the assassination and a facilitator in terms of material support in the murder of Farooq. However, Shamim regrets his actions and said that he was not under duress during the confessional statement.
Shahmin claimed that Altaf Hussain gave him direction to kill Farooq in a telephonic speech to a group of workers in Karachi. MQM founder Altaf Hussain said during a telephonic speech that Farooq “could be assassinated near a park.”
In his statement, Shamim revealed that after the MQM founder’s speech, party leader Mohammad Anwar told him, “Listen to the speech carefully, the Quaid has left a message for you for the future”. He further added that it was necessary to kill Farooq as he was establishing another group in the party.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the confessional statement in an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Thursday.
“September 16th was chosen as the date for Farooq’s murder as it was meant to be a birthday gift to Altaf Hussain,” Shamim confessed.
Shamim said that he, along with other suspects of the case Moazzam Ali and Kashif Khan Kamran, planned the murder of Farooq. He claimed that all planning took place in MQM’s headquarter Nine-Zero. However, funding was an issue, which (£25,000) was sent to him by Altaf through Iftikhar Hussain for travel arrangements.
“After Imran Farooq’s murder, I asked Kashif Khan Kamran to immediately leave the country on the first available flight,” said the accused in his statement submitted in court.
Shamim also alleged that Mohammad Anwar had instructed workers in South Africa to stop the pair from reaching Pakistan.
The accused further added that Kashif, Mohsin and he [Shamim] left Pakistan for Afghanistan through the Chaman border crossing. Later, along with Mohsin, he decided to return to Pakistan after a five year stay, while Kashif rejected the decision. They were arrested from Chaman border when crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan in 2015.
Last year, FIA arrested Khalid Shamim and Moazzam along with Mohsin Ali for their alleged involvement in Imran Farooq’s murder.
Earlier this year, a video of Shamim appeared– who was being held at the Adiala jail at that time, in which Shamim alleged that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was involved in Imran Farooq’s murder.
Farooq, 50, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and beaten to death in Edgeware, northwest London, as he returned home from work on September 16, 2010.
He was twice elected a member of Pakistan’s Parliament, but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered a military crackdown against party [MQM] activists in Karachi. He later claimed asylum in Britain in 1999.
