Benazir assassination case: Cops’ physical remand extended again

Prosecution insists recovery of cellular phones is essential to reach perpetrators.

RAWALPINDI: Former city police officer Saud Aziz, and Superintendent Police Khurram Shahzad were taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after an Anti Terrorism Court extended their physical remand for tens days.

Public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar maintained that the police officers still had not given the mobile phones which they had used on that day.

“Saud Aziz gave mobiles phones of 2008 and 2009 models. After forensic laboratory tests it was proven that this phone was not used by the police officials and in fact was in the use of Ramzan, a resident of Karachi,” the prosecutor maintained.

He told the court that the recovery of the phones is essential to reach to the real culprits.

However the counsel for the police officers, Malik Waheed Anjum requested the court to call experts in the court to assess whether the recovery of the phones was important or not.

The defense counsel argued that both police officials had given their phones with sim-cards adding that data is retrieved from the sim-cards and not the phone sets.

Investigation officer of the FIA Asghar Jatoi also submitted a list of heirs of those who were killed or injured December 27, 2007 to the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2011.