LONDON: Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick has admitted that complexitiesand breakdown of communication exists between Pakistan and Britainregarding investigation of murder of Dr Imran Farooq, former senior leaderof Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who was killed in London eight years ago.
Appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee where she was questionedon Dr Imran Farooq’s case by Labour MP Naz Shah, the Metropolitan Policechief said that “there are and there have been some very complex issues” toresolve between the two countries.
Naz Shah, who is a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, asked thepolice chief that she felt “embarrassed” when people asked her in the UKand in Pakistan as to why Dr Imran Farooq’s murder case has not beensolved, and whether the MQM founder enjoyed impunity from the Britishjustice system.
Dick said that investigation into Dr Imran Farooq’s case continues.
The Scotland Yard’s chief said: “We have put an enormous amount ofresources into the investigation. We are absolutely determined that we willbring the murderers of Dr Imran Farooq to justice. There are and have beensome very complex issues to resolve. This is a murder which has very strongoverseas connections. We are working very closely with the Foreign Officeand other authorities to try to progress this case. We will do everythingin our power to try to bring the murderers to justice. We have taken actionand brought the file to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service).”
Dick told the committee that while she worked at the Foreign & CommonwealthOffice (FCO), she came to know about the concern that exists amongst partsof the communities in the UK and Pakistan “about what has happened.”
She added: “We will seek to uphold the law and we are absolutely determinedto try to bring those responsible to justice.”
MP Shah told this correspondent that justice in the case of Dr Imran Farooqis important because his widow, Shumaila Imran Farooq, and sons, Aalishanand Wejdaan, live in poverty and have no one to look after them.
She said that Shumaila Imran and her sons deserve justice and eight longyears have passed while they continue to await trial of the killers.