Imran Farooq murder: Pakistan court summons MQM founder through Guardian notice

LONDON: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad has published an advertisement in The Guardian declaring as proclaimed offender the London-based founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the murder case of Dr Imran Farooq, former senior leader of the MQM, who was assassinated in London in September 2010.

It’s understood that the legal notice in The Guardian has been published by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) asking the MQM supremo to appear in the court, ATC No. 1, Islamabad, within 30 days of the publication of the notice. The self-exiled leader faces hundreds of cases in Pakistan, but it’s for the first time that Pakistani authorities have made such an effort, using an esteemed English daily.

The Guardian notice seeks the MQM founder to appear before the ATC under section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of Pakistan. It’s understood that the same notice will be delivered to the mentioned address of the MQM founder and in case of non-appearance, further action will be taken.

The same court had earlier issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the MQM founder during a hearing of Imran Farooq murder case in Adiala Jail. ATC judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who heard the case, had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to arrest and present the party supremo before the court, delaying the indictment of the arrested suspects — Syed Mohsin Ali, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim — who are being held in Adiala Jail in connection with the planning and murder of Dr Farooq.

Farooq, 50, was on his way home from work when he was attacked in Green Lanes, London, on September 16, 2010, outside his London home with knives and bricks. He died on the spot, leaving behind a widow and two young sons. A post-mortem examination had revealed that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.

The notice published in The Guardian carries the name of same judge “Mr. Shahrukh Arjumand” of “special anti-terrorism court No.1, Islamabad.”

The proclamation notice said the accused, a "resident of 90, Azizabad Karachi, presently resident of 54-58 first floor Elizabeth House, High Street, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7EJ, United Kingdom, has committed (or is suspected to have committed) the offences in case no FIR No. 01/2015 dated 05/12/2015 under Section 302/120B/34/109 P.P.C, 7 A.T.A Police Station Counter Terrorism Wing, FIA Islamabad," and has absconded or is concealing himself to avoid arrest.

It further added that the accused is "required to appear in this court to answer the said complaint within 30 days from the date of publication".

The FIA had lodged a case against the MQM founder and other senior party leaders in 2015 for their alleged involvement in Farooq's murder.

Mohsin Ali Syed, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim were arrested in the same year over suspicion of involvement in the killing, while news reports have said that another suspect Kashif Khan Kamran has already dead.