KARACHI: Senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) London chapter, Professor Hasan Zafar Arif, was found dead Sunday morning in the backseat of a car in Karachi, police said.
Police said they recovered the body after Rescue 15 received information from a citizen over phone. Arif was identified through his national identity card, said Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) at the Ibrahim Hyderi police station, Ameer Hussain.
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre emergency department in-charge Dr Seemin Jamali said the body did not bear any bullet wounds.
Traces of blood were found on the deceased’s face but hospital officials said initial results from post-mortem examination did not reveal any signs of torture on the body.
Hospital sources later told Geo News that they were waiting for x-rays and the results of CT scans and chemical tests to determine the exact cause of death.
The professor’s family also reached the hospital following the incident.
Speaking to Geo News earlier today, Malir SSP Rao Anwar said the late professor’s nose was bleeding when police checked the body after being informed of it.
He added that, in case there are torture marks or any other external wounds, police would register a case.
MQM-Pakistan leader Farooq Sattar, speaking to the media in Multan, expressed sympathy at the news and said that Arif belonged to MQM-London.
In October 2016, Sindh Rangers took Arif and another MQM-London leader into custody from outside the Karachi Press Club before they could address a press conference.
Prior to his detention, Arif had been named in a coordination committee, formed by the MQM’s London-based founder, to handle party affairs following Sattar’s breaking away from the party and forming MQM-P.
Dr Arif was a noted intellectual and also taught philosophy at Karachi University.
Following his detention by the Rangers, Dr Arif was released from jail in a hate-speech case in April 2017.
