Man paid £400 to have his cousin 'kneecapped'

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 10:19

A POLICE officer posed as a hitman to snare an Edinburgh businessman who wanted to have his own cousin "kneecapped".

Mohammed Javid Iqbal struck a deal with the undercover policeman to pay 1400 for Atta Mohammed to be shot in both knees over a family feud.

Police acted after receiving information that Iqbal – described as a property manager and private hire car firm owner – wanted to punish his relative over a financial dispute.

The masquerading hitman, known as Phil, built relations with Iqbal and the deal was struck, with the officer being paid a 400 deposit, the High Court in Edinburgh was told.

Iqbal, 44, of Duddingston Park South, admitted inciting the police officer to assault his cousin in July 2003, in a long-running case which was delayed after he initially failed to show at court in 2004 to stand trial, having been granted bail.

During meetings with Phil at Dalkeith Country Park, in Midlothian, and at Edinburgh's Hillend ski slope Iqbal identified the planned target and agreed a price for the attack.

Advocate depute Morag Jack told the court: "He told Phil there was no rush for him to carry out the crime."

She said days earlier police received confidential information that Iqbal was trying to find someone he could pay to assault and seriously injure Mr Mohammed, rather than do it himself.

Ms Jack said the intelligence was considered reliable and a genuine threat and a covert operation was launched aimed at protecting the intended victim and securing an arrest.

Iqbal later claimed to police after he was detained that he believed his step-mother, Nasim Bibi Din, had been trying to get his share of a family landholding in Pakistan.

He also stated he believed that she had transferred his father's bank accounts to herself.

Atta had arrived in the country weeks before from Pakistan, and Iqbal believed he was key to these dealings and assisting the Din family.

On July 11, 2003 Iqbal met the undercover police officer for the first time at the country park and their conversation was tape-recorded.

The advocate depute said: "During conversation he confirmed that he had a problem and made reference to a person he wished assaulted.

"He indicated that he wished this person's kneecaps done and that he be crippled.

"He wanted him injured enough so that he would require hospitalisation."

Iqbal went on to reveal it was Atta Mohammed he wanted hurt and wrote down his name and address and supplied information about his movements.

Five days later the pair met up again and Iqbal said he wanted the target "done in the legs".

The undercover officer showed him a photo of Mr Mohammed taken by the police, and Iqbal confirmed him as the target before handing over the 400 down payment.

Iqbal was detained by police two days later, and he subsequently told officers that for the past two years relations with his stepmother and his father had become strained due to a dispute over family land in Pakistan.

Temporary judge Michael O'Grady QC deferred sentence on Iqbal for a background report, and remanded him in custody.