October 04, 2018
LONDON/ISLAMABAD: A man extradited by Pakistan to the United Kingdom recently "is due to appear in court tomorrow [Thursday] to be charged of eight counts of murder" for "a house fire in Birkby, Huddersfield in 2002", British authorities said.
"Shahid Mohammed, aged 36, formerly of Huddersfield, will be formally charged with the murders of five children and three adults, when he appears at Leeds Magistrates Court tomorrow morning (4th October)", West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.
Mohammed's extradition comes as a result of collaborative work of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team of the West Yorkshire Police, the National Crime Agency, and the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as the British High Commission in Islamabad and Pakistani authorities.
The suspect was arrested back on January 22, 2015, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan after a joint operation by the British and Pakistani police and was thereafter held in a local prison.
He was "being flown from Islamabad International Airport back to the UK, where he will be detained for court", the statement added.
“This is a significant development in our investigation," the West Yorkshire Police team's detective, Superintendent Nick Wallen, said.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all agencies here in the UK and in Pakistan who have worked tirelessly and supported West Yorkshire Police to ensure that this process has run smoothly to extradite him.
“At the centre of this investigation is the Chisthi family, who lost eight members of their family during the fatal house fire and have shown such dignity since the tragedy occurred in 2002.”
Mohammed's extradition is the second one from Pakistan in over 10 years, with the first one being Mohammed Zubair in May 2016.