Imran Farooq

Major suspect of the murder case, Khalid Shamim, confessed on 10 November 2016 that all the planning of murder took place on Nine Zero. He revealed that 16 September was chosen as the date to murder as a birthday gift to Altaf Hussain.

In June 2013, British police arrested Iftikhar Hussain, a primary suspect in the murder case. According to sources familiar with the developments, the detainee is a relative of a top Pakistani politician. The arrest was made in response to forensic evidence gathered by the police. The Scotland Yard stated that they have sough the Call Detail Record (CDR) along with text messages from the SIM obtained from Hussain.

Farooq was found murdered near his home in North London on 16 September 2010. The murder took place at 5:30 p.m. GMT as Farooq was returning home after finishing work at a local pharmacy.

An unidentified suspect was arrested in December 2010.

Farooq maintained close relations with Altaf Hussain, who called Farooq his "staunch, loyal, and senior companion." In 2004, when Farooq got married in London, Hussain attended the festivities.

By 1992, the MQM had become a political force in Karachi. In an effort to curtail its power, the Pakistani government launched Operation Clean-up and sent the military into Karachi to crack down on the movement, causing the leadership, including Farooq, to go into hiding. After being in hiding for nearly seven years, Farooq escaped from Pakistan in 1999, sought political asylum in the United Kingdom and later gained British citizenship. From London, Farooq continued to lead the MQM with Altaf Hussain and other senior members of the party from exile. When Farooq left Pakistan, he had a bounty on his head. Farooq was charged with terrorism, which he denied upon arrival in London. The charges against Farooq were challenged by his mother in 1992 in the Sindh High Court (SHC). The SHC's verdict declared the bounty to be illegal and unconstitutional; the consequent appeal by the provincial Government of Sindh was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

In 1978, Farooq helped established the All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization. When in 1984, it gave birth to the Mohajir Quami Movement, Farooq served as its first Secretary General and Convener. In 1988 and 1990, he was elected to the Pakistan National Assembly and became the Parliamentary Leader of the MQM.

Imran Farooq (Urdu: عمران فاروق ‎; 14 June 1960 – 16 September 2010) was a British-Pakistani politician who was best known for his association with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a political party in Pakistan, of which he was a very senior member. He was also a founding member of the All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization. Farooq held several positions in MQM and the Pakistani government. He lived in London in self-imposed exile from 1999 until he was murdered in September 2010.

Imran Farooq was born in Karachi, Pakistan. His father, Farooq Ahmed, was born in Delhi, British India before he migrated to Pakistan after the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and was elected as a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Farooq's father was Muhajir. Farooq was a physician by education. He graduated from Sindh Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan with an MBBS degree in 1985. In 2004, Farooq married a former member of the Sindh Assembly, Shumaila Nazar. He fathered two children. Farooq was related to Tahir Qureshi (former MPA). Farooq's great grandfather was also once the governor of Delhi, India.