KARACHI, 24 February — The gruesome murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl has shocked the world and prompted Pakistani police to step up the manhunt for a key suspect blamed for the abduction of Pearl.
Police suspect they may never find the body of Pearl because he was most likely killed over a week ago and the trail is going cold, a source close to the investigation said yesterday.
But The New York Times reported yesterday that chief suspect Omar Sheikh, who is in custody of Pakistani police, told investigators that Pearl was killed in late January as part of a plot that was to include an attack on the US Consulate in Karachi.
A senior investigator said the police’s most wanted man was Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a militant they believe drove Pearl from a hotel on Jan. 23 on his way to captivity and eventual death.
“We are engaged in frantic efforts to find the body” and Farooqi, he said.
Authorities stepped up security at all US diplomatic missions and businesses yesterday saying it could not rule out attacks against American interests.
A source close to the investigations said yesterday three senior officials investigating Pearl’s abduction received a number of calls on Feb. 20 warning them of “dire consequences” if they did not stop chasing them.
“They told the investigators how many children each one of them have, when they go to school, which mode of transport they use for going to school and returning back home and where their families go for shopping,” the source said.
“They had very minute and precise information about the activities of their family members,” the source said. “The investigators were alarmed and informed the interior minister (Moinhuddin Haider).” The callers used the mobile phone of Pearl.
Investigators also said police were hunting another suspect, an Arab who is thought to have helped Farooqi kidnap Pearl in this southern Pakistani city.
Officials declined to specify the name or nationality of the suspect, saying that would help the man escape.
The claims by Omar, 28, about the timing of Pearl’s death and a parallel plot to attack the American Consulate in Karachi have not been corroborated, the intelligence and law enforcement officials said.
