Police track down South Africa-based extortionist ‘Mirza Bhai’

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Monday issued lifetime arrest warrants for South Africa-based Hafiz Furqan alias 'Mirza Bhai', accused of extorting money from doctors in India and Pakistan.

According to police, Furqan is in hiding in South Africa and is wanted for running an extortion racket from South Africa.

Officials say the accused used telephone and email to send extortion letters to doctors in India and Pakistan. Furqan used the assumed name ‘Bhai ji’ to extort money from doctors in India.

Police say ‘Mirza Bhai’ created social media accounts using the name ‘Michael Smith Thomas’ to prey on vulnerable doctors, and received extortion money from victims through money transfer companies.

Police authorities in Pakistan have also contacted Interpol for the arrest of 'Mirza Bhai', whose whereabouts in South Africa have also been tracked down by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the police.

Police have already arrested Arsalan – an accomplice of 'Mirza Bhai' – from Karachi, while another accomplice Asghar is said to have fled to Dubai.