Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Altaf Hussain arrested in London on charges of money laundering Written Updates
The London Police had been investigating Hussain in this case for over several months now.
In a TV interview, Altaf had revealed that all his bank accounts in Britain had been frozen by the authorities. The MQM chief had admitted that the British authorities had conducted raids at his house and at his office.
2:40pm
MQM sources in Karachi say they are unable to contact the members of London office.
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2:37pm
British High Commission has confirmed the arrest. A special unit of the Scotland Yard arrested him from his house.
Exams have been postponed in various schools. Intermediate Board papers have also been cancelled.
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2:27pm
Scotland Yard has not revealed the identity of the man arrested, Express News reported. According to the their press release, a 60-year-old man has been arrested on charges of money-laundering.
Karachi University examinations have been cancelled for the day.
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2:22pm
Naeem Khanzada, reporting from Nine-Zero, says party members are gathering at the party headquarters for the emergency meeting.
MQM London Secretariat members say they will announce future course of action once the situation is clearer.
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2:15pm
Spokesperson for London Metropolitan Police told The Express Tribune that a 60-year-old man was arrested from North West London on suspicion of money laundering. He further said that they do not disclose identities till the person is charged.
MQM Rabita Committee will be addressing a press conference at 3pm.
Two MQM leaders have denied the arrest of their party chief.
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2:12pm
According to MQM leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan, the Rabita Committee has called for an emergency meeting and party members have started to gather at Nine Zero
Security has been put on high alert throughout Sindh.
Shops and businesses have started to shut down in Karachi and other cities of Sindh.
The British High Commission in Karachi has been temporarily shut down.
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2:00pm
MQM Rabita Committee member Aminul Haq says they will issue a statement regarding this and will inform everyone about the situation.
Karachi Stock Exchange dropped by 780 points as soon as the news of Hussain arrest broke out. The market is now recovering.
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1:51pm
Hussain was arrested from his house in London’s Edgware area.
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1:46pm
Javed Chaudhry, while speaking to Express News today, said London Police were investigating Hussain for three cases of money laundering, hate speech and Imran Farooq murder.
Background
In June last year, as part of their investigation into the Imran Farooq murder case, Scotland Yard had raided Altaf Hussain’s house in London. The search operation had continued for over 55 hours.
Later in July 2013, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police in London had told The Express Tribune that a significant amount of money was seized in the raid from the house of the MQM chief. However, the spokesperson did not disclose whether the politician is being questioned over it.
Another spokesperson had said that if a money laundering case is established, then it would be treated as a financial case, separate from the murder case of Dr Imran Farooq.
Farooq, 50, was a former leader of MQM and had lived in London in self-imposed exile from 1999. He was on his way back from work when he was attacked outside his home in Edgware, north London, in September 2010. A post-mortem gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head. A kitchen knife and a house brick used in the attack were recovered at the scene
