Court hears Mullah Mansour used fake identities to buy insurance and properties

Former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in 2016 in a US drone strike, had a life insurance policy with a Pakistan company under a false name, and had properties in Karachi worth millions, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi heard on Saturday.

The hearing had been brought against Mansour and accomplices by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last year, ANI reported.

Sources from the FIA told Dawn news that the investigating officer had appeared in court, along with an official from IGI General Insurance Limited, that had sold the policy to Mansour.

The insurance company filed a report explaining that during an investigation it emerged that Mansour had purchased the policy by using a fake identity and had paid up to Pakistani Rs300,000 ($1,800) for it before his May 21, 2016 death.

It also emerged during the investigation that Mansour and his accomplices had generated funds for terrorist activities through the purchase of properties using forged identities, ANI reported.

According to the report, Mansour had purchased five properties in Karachi estimated at a total value of Pakistan Rs32million ($200,000).

ANI reported that the insurance company had handed over Pakistan Rs300,000 to investigators to hand in to court, sources said.

“However, the FIA investigators returned the cheque asking the company to pay the principal amount along with premium so that the whole amount could be deposited to the government reasury,” a source was quoted as having said.

On Saturday, the insurance company deposited the total amount of Rs350,000 into a court account, judicial sources told Dawn News.

ANI meanwhile stated that the anti-terrorism court judge also sought reports from two private banks regarding accounts believed to have been obtained and operated by Mansour and his accomplices along with details of transactions.