KARACHI: Police in London arrested on Monday a suspect of Pakistani origin in the murder of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.

"Counter Terrorism officers investigating the murder of Dr Imran Farooq have today arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder," said the London Metropolitan Police.

The Met police confirmed that the 52-year old suspect, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested Monday morning from Heathrow Airport at 09:10 GMT and was taken to a police station in London.

The suspect had just arrived in Britain from Canada, said the police.

MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq, aged 50, was on his way home from work when he was attacked in Green Lane on Sept 16, 2010 outside his London home. A post-mortem examination found that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.

This is the first arrest carried out by London Police in relation to his killing, and is so far the most significant progress in the case in more than a year.

Last week, the British police searched two residential properties in London as part of an investigation into the murder.

Television reports said the police carried out a 55-hour search in two northwest London “residential addresses”. The New Scotland Yard, which raided the houses, was reported to have confiscated several documents during the search.

The TV reports suggested that one of the houses belonged to MQM chief Altaf Hussain. However, there was no independent confirmation of the report.

Farooq, one of the founding members of the MQM, then known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, had been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1999.

The party later transformed into the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and became the fourth largest political force in parliament, and is the largest political party in Karachi, Pakistan’s business hub by the Arabian Sea.