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: thenews.pk/Todays-News-13-23899-Why-was-Dr-Imran-Farooq-not-protected-by-London-Police Why was Dr Imran Farooq not protected by London Police? Murtaza Ali Shah Friday, July 05, 2013 From Print Edition LONDON: The Metropolitan Police were aware that there were life threats to Dr Imran Farooq, the assassinated former leader of MQM, but the police say they didn’t provide him security because “there was no credible information suggesting a direct threat before his murder”.When Altaf Hussain made a charged live speech on Sunday accusing Britain of being behind an alleged “conspiracy” to get him, he also went all out against the Metropolitan Police and disclosed a key secret that until Sunday (30the June, 2013) was only a matter between the London-based MQM and the Metropolitan Police.Hussain made the startling – and perhaps the most important – revelation that the Metropolitan Police were well aware that Dr Imran Farooq’s life was in danger, many years before his assassination in September 2010 on Green Lane, Edgware, London. Hussain complained that he and M. Anwar were treated like criminals during the questioning. Then, said Hussain, the police spoke to him on the phone and both Anwar and Hussain told the police that they were not involved in threats against Dr Farooq, who by that time had been effectively sidelined from the party and was not allowed to take part in party activities.Sources have told The News that the police detectives questioned Muhammad Anwar in the middle of 2003 about the complaints concerning Dr Imran Farooq. It was soon after Dr Farooq was suspended from the party for “violating” the discipline.Muhammad Anwar confirmed to The News that a meeting was held but he said it was in 2005, not 2003. “I was questioned by the police for about 90 minutes. The police also met Dr Imran Farooq and then visited our office. The police said they understood there were threats to Dr Farooq’s life. We answered all their questions. They apologised to me but said that they were doing their job. On that occasion, the police also spoke to Dr Farooq over mobile phone. I have no idea who had made the complaint.”It is understood that the Met police were concerned again about Dr Farooq’s safety towards the end of 2008 but it’s not known at this stage whether the officers had made enquiries or not on that occasion. Dr Farooq was suspended again in 2008 around the time the PPP and the MQM were entering into an alliance and was not active in the party when he was killed by unknown men.Asked by The News, what steps were being taken to ensure that Dr Imran Farooq’s widow Shumaila Farooq and her sons Alishaan and Wejdaan are provided fool-proof security, the Met police said: “As is routine in any murder investigation, a family liaison officer was appointed following the murder of Dr Farooq. They remain in contact with the family and provide updates on the progress of the investigation, as well as further support that may be required.”The police also told The News on Thursday that it was aware about the media reports that said Pakistan holds two men in relation to Dr Farooq’s murder but said “that was a matter for Pakistani authorities and no request has been made by the Metropolitan Police for access to these men”.A legal expert told this correspondent that the police take action only when there is a complainant and in the case of Dr Farooq and the kind of questioning Hussain has revealed they were subjected to, it’s clear that Imran Farooq himself would have gone to the police, the police would not have acted ona complaint made on behalf of Dr Farooq by someone else.The bombshell revelation by Altaf Hussain has generated many questions about both the MQM and the police. Based on Hussain’s revelations, it can now be confidently said that Dr Farooq had fallen out with his own party - the details of which are now leaking out and the police have also made it clear that Imran Farooq was killed because of his intentions to launch his separate political career. The police suspect that Dr Farooq had developed serious differences with his party.At the same time, the questions for police are that if they knew about threats to Dr Farooq’s life then what arrangements were made for his safety and that of his family. Why he was not provided a secure accommodation rather than let him remain in a vulnerable position. For the police to simply say that there was no “credible information” is not enough as it must answer what constitutes “credible” for them. If the police didn’t think that Dr Farooq’s complaint was credible then why did they bother to make basic enquiries – directly with the MQM leadership? The police must come clean and declare to the concerned Pakistani public that what was the original complaint of Dr Farooq all about, what were its contents, who did he feel threatened from and what transpired during their investigations over his complaints? Did the police advice Dr Farooq on safety and security and were the police or any secret service personnel also in touch with Dr Farooq and rest of the MQM leadership? And what was the basis of these clandestine contacts? The fact that Dr Imran Faroooq was killed in broad daylight by suspected Pakistani men, its clear that Dr Farooq’s worries were genuine and credible. The sad truth is that a man was butchered on the streets of London and if he wasn’t threatened at the first place and if only the police had acted upon his pleas for security and help then there would not be two young boys who would grow up without the presence of their father and who pass through trauma everyday; whose innocence have been cruelly snatched from them, putting them at the mercy of unfortunate circumstances; a widow whose life has come to a halt and for whom everyday unfolds a new tragedy and who is like a dead person walking without the presence of her loving husband; a political party which finds itself in crisis over the same murder; a police force which has several questions to answer and a complex murder investigation to resolve; and two countries that continue to reel from the effects of this brutal murder.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 12:33:52 +0000

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