Evidence weakens for BBC story on MQM-RAW links

Police refuse to validate ‘official’ transcripts

July 04, 2015 12:19 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:30 pm IST - London:

Police are investigating charges of money laundering against the London-based MQM leader, Altaf Hussain. In this file photo, MQM supporters protesting in Islamabad against the arrest of their leader in London.

Police are investigating charges of money laundering against the London-based MQM leader, Altaf Hussain. In this file photo, MQM supporters protesting in Islamabad against the arrest of their leader in London.

The credibility of claims made in a recent BBC report that the Indian intelligence agency RAW funded Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), have been seriously weakened following a statement by the Britain’s Metropolitan police.

The BBC story had quoted a senior MQM source as having acknowledged such payments in interrogation sessions with the Met police. The police are investigating charges of money laundering against the London-based MQM leader, Altaf Hussain. India had dismissed the charges as untrue.

Soon after the story broke, however, documents purporting to be “official” and attributed to the Metropolitan police have been circulated on social media sites and in the Pakistan media. The documents allegedly contain the transcripts of the interrogation of senior MQM leader Tariq Mir by the police.

“Documents have been put to the police asking for clarification as to their validity. We have seen one that appears to be a genuine police document and a second we do not recognise as a police document,” the police statement said, in response to a question from a media outlet seeking confirmation.

“We are concerned as to the possible prejudicial effect release of these documents could have to an ongoing police investigations. We are not investigating a possible leak in relation to this matter and will not be drawn into discussing any further documents that may be given to the media by third parties,” the statement adds.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.