An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain during a hearing of MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq's murder case in Adiala Jail on Wednesday.

ATC judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who heard the case, ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to arrest and present Hussain in court, delaying the indictment of the arrested suspects — Syed Mohsin Ali, Moazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim — who are being held in Adiala Jail.

Explore: Situationer — Politics, not law, likely to decide murder probe

The hearing was adjourned until December 20 after the FIA prosecutor requested the court for time to prepare necessary documents.

Farooq, aged 50, was on his way home from work when he was attacked in Green Lane on September 16, 2010, outside his London home. A post-mortem examination had revealed that he died from multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head.

A five-and-a-half inch bladed kitchen knife and a house brick used in the attack were recovered at the scene, London police had said in the report.

FIA had registered a case against the MQM founder and other senior party leaders in 2015 for their alleged involvement in Farooq's murder. Mohsin, Moazzam and Shamim were arrested in the same year over suspicion of involvement in the killing.

Relevant clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the clauses of conspiracy, assistance, abatement and assassination/murder were included in the first information report.