News Analysis |
Police have suspected the involvement of members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s London and South Africa chapters in the assassination of former lawmaker and a prominent MQM leader Ali Raza Abidi.
A senior officer of the Karachi Police, while not ruling out terrorism and extremism as the reason, said there were credible reports that members of MQM London and South Africa groups were in Karachi prior to Abidi’s assassination on December 25.
Abidi, a former Member of the National Assembly and leader of a faction of the MQM, was shot multiple times outside his house in Khayaban-e-Ghazi neighborhood of Defense Housing Authority, Karachi. The two motorcyclists who attacked him had been following his car.
The Federal Investigation Agency registered a criminal case against MQM founder Altaf Hussain and other leaders for their alleged involvement in Dr. Farooq’s murder.
They fled after critically injuring Abidi, who was taken to a nearby hospital but could not survive. Senior Superintendent of Police (South) Pir Mohammed Shah on Wednesday said the investigation into Abidi’s murder had made some headway and the homicide investigators were close to knowing the motive and the people behind the killing.
The SSP said the investigation was underway but suspected MQM London and South Africa’s involvement in the murder. “We are gradually moving forward in that case. We are excluding people and groups who cannot be suspected of their involvement in the incident.
Read more: MQM London: Target killer among 2 killed in police encounter
But definitely, there are credible reports that people of the London group or you can say the South African group, are here in the city,” Shah said. The SSP said various security agencies were working on the case. “Considering the history of violence in Karachi, we cannot rule out extremism and terrorism as a possible motive, but there are other actors as well who are taken into account,” he added.
It is pertinent to note that MQM London group has previously also been linked to the murder of MQM leader Dr. Imran Farooq, who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death near his apartment in London in September 2010.
The Federal Investigation Agency registered a criminal case against MQM founder Altaf Hussain and other leaders for their alleged involvement in Dr. Farooq’s murder. Last year, an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad indicted three main suspects in the murder case and issued perpetual arrest warrants for Hussain, who has been in London in a self-imposed exile since 1992.