Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has sentenced Khalid Shamim, Moazzam Ali and Mohsin Ali Syed to life imprisonment in the murder case of Imran Farooq, a founding member of Muttahida Qaumi Moment (MQM).
Dr. Imran Farooq’s murder case was heard by the Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Shah Rukh Arjumand and after the completion of the arguments of the lawyers of the parties, the verdict reserved on May 21 was pronounced today.
The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for conspiracy, aiding and abetting murder case and also ordered to pay Rs. 10 lakh (total Rs. 3 million) to Imran Farooq’s heirs.
In addition, permanent arrest warrants were issued for Iftikhar Hussain, founder of Muttahida Altaf Hussain, Muhammad Anwar and Kashif Kamran.
It may be recalled that Dr Imran Farooq, the founding general secretary of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was assassinated outside his house in Green Lane, Edgeware, London on September 16, 2010.
In Imran Farooq murder case, 3 accused Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali and Moazzam Ali have been arrested while 4 accused MQM London founders Altaf Hussain, Mohammad Anwar, Iftikhar Hussain and Kashif Kamran were declared fugitives. He has passed away.
All the accused named in the case are charged with conspiracy to murder, aiding and abetting, including murder, which was registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on December 5, 2015.
The two accused had recorded their confession before the magistrate on January 7, 2016 and the arrested accused were indicted on May 2, 2018.
During the hearing of the case, the statements of 29 prosecution witnesses were recorded and the UK provided evidence while the statements of the British witnesses were also recorded.
The UK’s chief investigator in the case also testified in court, while other British witnesses, including the victim’s wife, recorded statements on the video link.
The British government objected to the death penalty in the case of a trial in Pakistan, to which Pakistan assured the British government that the convicts would not be sentenced to death if convicted.
Therefore, the British government provided evidence on the same assurance of the Pakistani government and cooperated in the case.
The travel history of the accused in the case, mobile phone data, fingerprint report, death certificate of the victim and postmortem report were made part of the record as evidence.
It should be noted here that the murder took place in London but since the accused belonged to Pakistan, the case was tried in a Pakistani court.
Assassination of Dr. Imran Farooq
It may be recalled that Dr Imran Farooq, the founding general secretary of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was assassinated outside his house in Green Lane, Edgeware, London on September 16, 2010.
British police also raided the MQM leader’s home and London office in December 2012 to investigate the case, and launched a money laundering probe after receiving more than لاکھ 500,000 in raids. Was
Mohsin Ali Syed, 29, lived in the UK from February to September 2010, while Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran, 34, arrived in the UK in early September 2010, according to photos released on the British Police website.
Both were based in the Stanmore area of north London and had left the UK on the eve of Dr Imran Farooq’s assassination.
In June 2015, two accused Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim were arrested from Chaman while Moazzam Ali was arrested from a house near Nine Zero in Karachi.
The three accused were shifted to Islamabad after their arrest where they were in the custody of the FIA. A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formed to interrogate the accused.
On December 1, 2015, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that the Imran Farooq murder case would be registered in Pakistan.
On December 5, 2015, the government of Pakistan registered a case against the founder of the MQM, Altaf Hussain, at the instigation of Inam Ghani, director of the FIA’s counter-terrorism department.
Besides MQM leaders Muhammad Anwar and Iftikhar Hussain, Moazzam Ali Khan, Khalid Shamim, Kashif Khan Kamran and Syed Mohsin Ali were also named in the case.
The lawsuit alleges conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Imran Farooq and providing assistance to the killers, while anti-terrorism sections 34, 109, 120B, 302 and 7 were added to the lawsuit.
On December 6, 2015, three accused, Moazzam Ali, Syed Mohsin and Khalid Shamim, were handed over to the FIA on a one-day transit remand.
On January 8, 2016, two of the accused in the case pleaded guilty before the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad.
Accused Mohsin Ali and Khalid Shamim had pleaded guilty while Moazzam Ali, the main accused in the murder, had pleaded not guilty.
Significant progress was made in the Imran Farooq murder case on January 9, 2016, when the arrested accused made several important revelations in their confessional statement before the magistrate.
The arrested accused had confessed that Imran Farooq was killed on the instructions of senior MQM leader Mohammad Anwar because Mohammad Anwar believed that Imran Farooq wanted to form a separate group