ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand gave permission to the investigation officer to further probe the suspects already detained in the murder case and find new leads in light of the evidence recently received from the United Kingdom (UK) Central Authority.
The three CTC officials, scheduled to appear before the terrorism court on November 4, are also known as SO15 which is a special operations branch within London’s Metropolitan Police Service. They are also the custodians of all the record related to Dr Farooq’s murder case.
During the proceedings, the prosecution informed the court that there was no need for re-indictment of the accused since the evidence received from the UK government had strengthened the case against them.
Earlier on December 15, 2015, the FIA had registered a case against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and other party leaders for their alleged involvement in the murder of Dr Imran Farooq, who was an important leader in the party.
Later, the ATC indicted the accused under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, for murder, abetment and hatching a conspiracy to kill.
Two of the suspects, namely Khalid Shamim and Syed Mohsin Ali, recorded their confessional statements before the magistrate, which they later disowned. Meanwhile, another suspect Moazzam Ali is yet to record his confessional statement in the case.
Dr Farooq was murdered outside his London home in 2010 and it was widely believed that the act was carried out on the orders of senior MQM leaders.