Scotland Yard team exchanges info with FIA

Imran Farooq, money laundering cases

ISLAMABAD - A two member team of Scotland Yard is in Islamabad to exchange important information with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in connection with the murder of MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq as well as the money laundering case against MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

FIA sources confirmed that a two-member team of London Metropolitan Police had arrived in Islamabad and held a meeting with some key officials of the agency connected with the probe into Dr Imran Farooq murder case.

The London Police also handed over the death certificate to FIA besides some other documents that would be attached with the final challan of the case, the official sources confirmed. They added that FIA also exchanged detailed information with the team that it pulled out during probe from the three accused in the murder case here in Pakistan.

A team of the FIA is also expected to leave for Britain before May 15 for meeting with the Metropolitan Police in this regard.

The founding member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Dr Imran Farooq was stabbed to death in London in 2010 under mysterious circumstances.

The three accused, Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali Syed and Moazzam Ali Khan, are facing allegations of facilitating and murdering MQM leader and a local anti-terrorism court will soon start their trial.

Some days back, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that Scotland Yard had again shown its willingness to visit Pakistan to exchange important information with regard to Imran Farooq murder case and the money laundering case against MQM chief. Both the cases are separately under probe in UK and Pakistan.

Earlier, the cooperation between Scotland Yard and Pakistan on investigation of the high profile murder case had come to a halt as Pakistan wanted that UK should seek extradition of all three accused from it for their onward trial there. But London Police was reluctant to do so.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has himself confirmed in a press conference in Islamabad that UK never sought extradition of all the three accused. "We never sought such request from UK," he had said.

While Pakistan wanted to hand over them to UK after it had given access of all three to the Scotland Yard last year for interviews and interrogation. Pakistan was ready to do so even in the absence of extradition treaty between the two countries.

After waiting for some months, the interior ministry decided to start the trial of the accused in Pakistan and the case had been handed over to FIA for investigations.

According to interior ministry sources, UK is interested in only seeking extradition of Mohsin Ali Syed and has refused to seek extradition of Khalid Shamim and Moazzam Ali Khan.

The official sources said that Scotland Yard has conveyed to Pakistan that the case in UK would become weak with the extradition of Moazzam and Khalid because they both were not present in UK when the crime was committed. But Pakistan has stressed that there was credible evidence present against the two and they should be tried for allegedly conspiring and facilitating the murder.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt