Authorities tracked down Amjad Farooqi after Harkatul Jihad Islami leader Qari Saif Ullah Akhtar tipped them during the interrogation that followed his arrest in Dubai in August, an intelligence officer told Daily Times on Friday. Farooqi, who was the mastermind behind the assassination attempts on President General Pervez Musharraf and the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, was shot in an encounter with police on September 26 in Nawabshah. He said Qari Saif and other Al Qaeda operatives disclosed the names of several militants during their interrogation.Qari Saif and Farooqi were in close contact till Qari Saif's arrest in August, the officer said. The officer said that they had conspired to kill President Musharraf, but had been unsuccessful in both their attempts. Sources claimed that Qari Saif had ordered Farooqi to kill many important people. Qari Saif and Farooqi first met in 1995, when Qari Saif was released from jail after his alleged involvement in conspiring against the Benazir Bhutto government, a source said. According to the source, Farooqi was a member of Harkatul Ansar and Harkatul Jihad Islami. He said that Farooqi was in charge of a training camp in Kabul at the time when Qari Safi was an assistant to Mulla Omar.
Asked about Muhammad Yousaf, who is Farooqi's brother-in-law and a lance naik in the Pakistan Army, he said that he had not been arrested and his whereabouts remained unknown. The intelligence officer said that Farooqi's DNA tests had been completed and his body would soon be handed to his family. Javed Iqbal, the elder brothers of Amjad Farooqi told the Daily Times on telephone that his family and relatives had been waiting for the last 6 days to receive Amjad's body. "We don't know where the body is. His DNA test was completed but the government has yet to hand his body to us. We tried to contact the interior minister on his mobile phone and left a message, however he has yet to get in touch with us. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Riaz Fatyana, the chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, have not responded either, said Mr Iqbal.