LONDON, Sept 14: The anti-terrorism unit of the London Metropolitan Police revealed on Friday that a few months before his assassination MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq had started making efforts for building an ‘independent political profile’, reports BBC.

The Metropolitan Police have issued a fresh appeal for information as they try to solve Dr Farooq’s murder in Edgware two years ago. Detectives investigating the case believe he was building his independent political profile before he was killed at his doorsteps on Sept 16, 2010 when he was returning home from work. In October, the police had found at the scene of the crime a knife and a brick they believed had been used in the attack.

The police want to speak to anyone who had been in contact with Dr Farooq over his political ambitions in the months before his murder. On the second death anniversary of the politician, police issued the crucial information according to which Dr Farooq had set up a Facebook profile in July 2010 and made an unspecified number of contacts on the social networking site.

A reward of up to £20,000 has been offered for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the murder.

The police statement issued on Friday said that Dr Farooq’s murder “would have required careful planning and would have required help from other people, some of whom may have provided assistance or information unwittingly”.