Islamabad: June3 (Pak destiny) As lonsldon police arrested today MQM chief Altaf Hussain in money laundering the MQM has got the answer from the nawaz government as why it was reluctant to issue him Pak pasport.
Altaf Hussain has lived in the UK since 1991, saying his life would be at risk if he returned to Pakistan.
Police in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, which the MQM controls, have been put on alert amid reports of violence.
The British and Pakistan authorities have in the past expressed concerned that any arrest of Altaf Hussain could lead to violent protests in Karachi.
Shootings have been reported from some parts of the city, which BBC correspondents say is tense.
Traffic jams are reported in Karachi and other cities in Sindh province as businesses start to close and people head home fearing violence.
Security is being tightened around the British mission in the city, which has been closed temporarily, and other buildings.
The city has been wracked by violence – much of it politically motivated.
Who is Altaf Hussain?
Born in Karachi in 1953 to a middle class family; studied pharmacy at university.
Formed MQM party in 1984 to represent Mohajirs – descendants of Urdu-speaking Muslims who migrated from India to Pakistan.
Requested political asylum in UK in 1992, later gained British citizenship; continues to run MQM from north London.
Pakistan’s powerful but absent politician
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party leaders are holding an emergency meeting at their headquarters in Karachi.
A senior MQM official said the party was not trying to conceal or hide what has happened but he added that Altaf Hussain was suffering from a medical condition and was due to be admitted to hospital on Tuesday.
Altaf Hussain, his party, his associates and relatives are currently the subject of a number of British investigations, reports the BBC’s Owen Bennett-Jones.
One is looking into the question of whether in his televised speeches he has incited violence in Pakistan, charges Mr Hussain denies. Another is into whether the MQM has paid its UK taxes correctly.
The most high-profile investigation followed the 2010 murder in London of a senior MQM leader Imran Farooq. No-one has been formally charged with his killing.
Our correspondent says the MQM is often accused of extorting money from businesses in Karachi and shipping the money to the UK, charges the party also denies.
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.
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
On July 31, London Metropolitan Police had said that an investigation is being carried out against the MQM chief on charges of money laundering and provocation to torture. They had also acceded that huge sums of money were seized from his home and office.