LONDON: Iftikhar Hussain, 52, detained during investigation into the murder of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq, was released by London police on Tuesday, according to DawnNews.

Hussain, who is purportedly a close relative of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, was released after no evidence was found against him, said a statement issued here. However, British authorities were reportedly in contact with their Pakistani counterparts for collection of evidence in the murder case.

The London Met police arrested Iftikhar Hussain from Heathrow Airport upon his arrival from Canada in June this year.

Earlier in May, British detectives had released photographs of two suspects they wanted in connection with Dr Farooq’s killing. The two Pakistani nationals were identified as 29-year-old Mohsin Ali Syed and 34-year-old Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran.

MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq, 50, was on his way home from work when he was attacked in Green Lane on Sept 16, 2010, outside his London home. A post-mortem found that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt blow to the head. The arrest made by police in June was the most significant progress in the case in more than a year.

The British police had also searched two residential properties reportedly belonging to MQM chief Hussain in London as part of an investigation into the murder.

Dr Farooq, one of the founding members of the MQM, then known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, had been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1999.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014