LONDON (Ruptly) — The London Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit has reportedly arrested Altaf Hussain, a prominent politician and founder of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, in London on Tuesday, in an early morning raid after a joint investigation with Pakistani authorities.

The arrest is reportedly in relation to hate speech made by Hussain on August 22, 2016, and a number of other speeches linked to his MQM party in Pakistan.

Officers searched an address in north-west London where Hussain was detained and a separate commercial address in the same area. Reacting to this development, local resident of Pakistan-origin Mrs. Rose raised more questions saying that “He had six properties. Now there’s a question that where did he get the six properties? Because he never worked here and had no business, so this is a big question mark.”

MQM dominated Karachi in the 1980s before splitting in two factions in 2016, after a series of anti-Pakistan and anti-military speeches made by Hussain. His loyalists formed the London faction, while dissidents are based in Pakistan. Hussain has lived in self-imposed exile in the UK for decades, having sought political asylum in 1992 and later taken British citizenship.