ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday indicted three suspects in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.

ATC judge Shahrukh Arjumand issued the charge sheet to the accused under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, related to the murder, abetment and hatching a conspiracy to kill.

Two of the suspects, Shamim and Syed Mohsin Ali, have recorded their confessional statements before the magistrate, alleging that the MQM leader was eliminated because he was a “potent threat to the leadership of the MQM”.

Dr Imran Farooq: a profile

The third suspect, Moazzam Ali, has not recorded a confessional statement yet.

Shamim confessed that Farooq’s murder was a “birthday gift” for MQM founder Altaf Hussain, while Mohsin’s statement revealed that he took part in the crime because he was promised a position in the party’s London secretariat.

On Dec 5, 2015, the FIA registered a case against the MQM chief and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the 2010 murder.

Farooq was murdered near his residence in Green Lane, Edgware, in September 2010.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2018