London, June 11 (TIWN) Altaf Hussain, the founder of Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was arrested in London on Tuesday over a hate speech in 2016 in which he had urged his followers to take the law into their own hands, the media reported.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain — who went into exile in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s — was arrested in London on Tuesday in a hate speech case.

“A man has today, Tuesday, 11 June, been arrested in connection with an investigation into a number of speeches made by an individual associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Pakistan,” read a statement by London’s Metropolitan Police, which did not name Hussain.

“The man, who is aged in his 60s, was arrested at an address in north west London. He was arrested on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.”

“He was detained under PACE [Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984] and taken to a south London police station, where he currently remains in police custody,” added the statement.