Imran Farooq’s widow says she met alleged killers of her husband in London

LONDON: Shumaila Farooq, the widow of Dr Imran Farooq, has told Islamabad’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) that she met two former members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s student wing who were in London to kill her husband.

Shumaila Imran Farooq gave her important witness statement from London’s Hendon Magistrates’ Court via video link and confirmed meeting Mohsin Ali Syed and Kashif Khan Kamran who approached her husband on the roads introducing themselves as Dr Farooq’s fans and followers.

She arrived at the court accompanied by two police officer from Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Squad Unit who have been involved in the investigation of the case for nearly ten years.

Special arrangements have been made for the hearing which is taking place today. A team of Scotland Yard officers is in Islamabad for a week to facilitate the trial taking place in both London and Pakistan after the UK and Pakistan decided to cooperate in the murder case and the UK sent the whole murder case file to Pakistan for the trial of murder plotters.

Shumaila Imran has confirmed in her statement that her husband didn’t suspect that Mohsin Ali Syed and his accomplice were intending to harm him. She has given her full account in statements regarding the events that led to the killing of her husband, his fallout with the MQM leader Altaf Hussain and several other senior members of the party who were not happy with Dr Imran Farooq.

A police officer who was amongst the first to be at the scene of murder and the doctor who saw Dr Farooq soon after the fatal attack have also given their witnesses statements and confirmed before the prosecutors in Islamabad.

Undated image shows Dr Imran Farooq (right) and Shumaila Imran Farooq with their children. Shumaila Farooq has confirmed contents of her statements on what happened on September 16, 2010, when her husband was stabbed to death outside his home in Edgware.

After Shumaila, neighbours of the former MQM leader will also be questioned who saw suspects Mohsin Ali Syed and Kashif Khan Kamran attack Dr Imran Farooq with bricks and knives.

Witnesses also include two English neighbours who were then children, playing in the garden. They claim to have witnessed how the MQM's founding leader was killed. The local coroner and police detectives will also provide their statements through video link.

Last year, Pakistan’s lawyer in the UK for the murder case, Toby Cadman, said Britain handed "compelling evidence" to Islamabad. Cadman had said that those involved in the murder and conspiracy of the MQM's slain founding leader, Dr Imran Farooq, would not be able to get away from justice — nine years after the assassination.

In an interview with The News, Cadman said: "We believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove the charges. The evidence consists of a number of pieces of material.

"It contains death certificate to prove killing, post-mortem report which explains nature of death, items used in carrying out the execution, CCTV footage of the three accused, movement of the accused, a number of forensic expert statements that deal with the analysis of the knife used, the clothing, fingerprints, the accused handling the item, and a number of different items.

"There is a lot more in the file," he had added. The three accused — who include Mohsin Ali Syed, Moazzam Ali Khan, and Khalid Shamim — are in police custody.