Bhatti assassination: Police unable to get hold of minister’s cell phone, driver

Witness says a person resembling the police sketch was seen sitting in a white car.

ISLAMABAD:

Police officials probing the killing of Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti have not been able to access either the minister’s cell phone or his driver that could together or individually help yield valuable clues.

Sources told The Express Tribune that police were able to trace and recover a Suzuki Mehran, a vehicle suspected of being the one used by unidentified assailants in the ambush. The registration number of the car was also found bogus on inquiry, officials said.

A senior police official denied it could be the same car used by the militants. However, sources said the engine and chasis numbers of the vehicle did not match the registration number, which was bogus. The car was actually registered in Lahore and the bogus number was from Lahore too.

Upon seeing the suspect’s sketch released by the police, a witness informed the police that a person resembling the sketch was seen sitting in a white Suzuki Mehran in Satellite Town Rawalpindi approximately three hours before the incident.

Sources said the car was found abandoned in the same area. However, the police did not officially confirm the claim and some officials even denied that the car was recovered.

A police official confirmed receiving information on a suspected car from a witness but maintained the registration number conveyed was found to be bogus.

Bhatti’s cell phone was still in the custody of his family and the driver had gone with the casket to the slain minister’s native village to attend the burial. “The minister’s family had not raised any suspicions over the character of their most trusted driver,” said a police official.

However, he confirmed that there were contradictions in the statements made by the driver Gul Sher. “There was also difference in the statements of witnesses and the driver over the account of the incident,” he said.

“Some witnesses said three gunmen had disembarked from their vehicle to shoot at the minister while Sher maintained it was only one,” the official added. Also, the driver stated he had saved his life by ducking down when the shooter fired at the wind screen of the car.

This claim was also challenged by certain witnesses who stated that Gul Sher had disembarked from the minister’s vehicle on seeing the gunman before the latter had opened fire. “There were many questions that only Sher could answer,” said an official close to the investigations.

He added that the driver would be questioned by the police on his return from Faisalabad. The probe team also wanted the custody of the cell phone used by the slain minister, as they believe the call record could lead to certain helpful clues. “We will politely request the family for access to the the cell phone when they return,” said a police official.

Earlier, an attempt to extract information on possible clues from the under custody self-confessed assassin of the former governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, remained futile. “Considering his emotional behaviour, the police thought he could provide some useful information if provoked,” said a source.

Officials of law enforcement agencies and police had also picked up two clerics of local mosques for questioning. They were asked if any of their seminary students was missing or was on leave. Police were also interested to know if they were keeping any guests at the mosque or the affiliated seminaries.

Eleven personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and police in the security escort of the slain minister were also questioned but no signs of their possible involvement could be traced.

Since the time of the incident, more than 30 people including vendors, passersby and others were picked up and subsequently interrogated to obtain a true account of the assassination of the minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2011.