ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Thursday refused to give the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) more time to collect evidence in the case pertaining to the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Imran Farooq in London.
During the hearing of the case, Justice Shah Rukh of the ATC remarked that if the high court did not approve a stay order until the next hearing then the proceeding will be forwarded.
The FIA officials informed the court that the authority has decided to challenge the court’s decision. They said that at least three months’ time would be requested from the high court in order to collect evidence.
The hearing was adjourned until January 2.
It is pertinent to mention here that MQM senior leader Imran Farooq had been murdered on September 16, 2010. He remained a Member of National Assembly (MNA) from 1988 to 1990.
In 1992, the police registered a serious nature of cases against Imran. He took charge of MQM after MQM-London chairman Azeem Ahmed in 1993. However, he disassociated himself from the party and shifted to London in 1997.
Former MQM chief Altaf Hussain had expressed his displeasure over Imran’s disassociation from the party and in 2010, Imran was killed under a clearly planned strategy. The British police had requested Pakistan to cooperate in the investigation as the alleged killers had flown to Pakistan soon after the murder.
The FIA management had requested for time to collect evidence in this regard from the British police but the court rejected their application.
