UK detectives in Pakistan for Imran Farooq case testimony

LONDON: A team of Scotland Yard officers is in Pakistan to give witnesses statements before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) related to the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.

Sources linked with the murder investigation in both the UK and Pakistan told this correspondent on Sunday that four members of the Counter-Terrorism Command (CTC), also known as CTC or SO15, are in Pakistan to meet officials for testimonies before the ATC. The officers from London reached Pakistan in the middle of week, said the source.

Mohsin Ali Syed and Kashif Khan Kamran allegedly killed Dr Imran Farooq on September 16, 2010 outside his home in Edgware. They fled the scene and the country immediately after the attack and were arrested in Pakistan when they landed in Karachi from Sri Lanka.

The ATC was scheduled to record the statement of three witnesses two weeks ago but the plan was changed due to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s sit-in at the nearby location.

Special prosecutor of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed had told the ATC that due to the prevailing law and order situation in the capital the British witnesses could not come to Pakistan to testify.

The Central Authority at the Home Office has already provided full case file to Pakistani authorities, including CCT footage, weapons used in the attack, statements by witnesses, statements by family members, postmortem certificates and forensic reports.

There are around two dozen witnesses in the case and the remaining witnesses would record their statements through Skype or video link if needed by the court.The News had exclusively revealed in September this year that Britain has accepted a request for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) from Pakistan to transfer evidence relevant to the murder inquiry of Dr Farooq for prosecution and conclusion of the case in Pakistan. The UK agreed to hand over the case file only after Pakistan agreed that the murder accused will not be given the death sentences.