Pakistan

Plot to kill Musharraf: FIA allowed to destroy recovered explosives

Six were sentenced to life-term, the explosives were recovered in 2008.

Mudassir Raja May 24, 2011

RAWALPINDI:

A court on Monday allowed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to destroy over 900 kilograms of explosive material recovered from the custody of six terrorists who had planned to carry out an attack on former president Pervez Musharraf in 2008.

A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench, comprising Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Tariq and Justice Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, accepted the application filed by FIA prosecutor seeking permission to destroy the explosive material after the accused in the case were convicted for life by the trial court.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, the FIA prosecutor, had moved the LHC stating that the huge quantity of explosive material was in the custody of FIA since June 2008 and had been produced before the anti-terrorism court during the trial as evidence. The explosives need to be destroyed, keeping them for a longer period could be risky and result in a massive blast, he said.

On August 31 last year, the trial court convicted Intikhab Ahmed Abbasi, resident of Islamabad, Muhammad Kabir of Abbotabad, Abid Khan of Attock, Muhammad Ishaq of Peshawar, Qamar Zaman of Dera Ismail Khan and Zafar Ali of Kohat for planning to kill the former president. They were sentenced to life term in jail.

The convicted men were also sentenced for accumulating over 900 kilograms of explosive material, planning to use it to kill the former president, carrying bogus registration numbers for the three seized vehicles and tampering with the chassis number of the vehicles. The trial court had, however, acquitted seven other men for lack of evidence.

The six men were arrested from Dhok Kala Khan on June 6, 2008, and the explosive material was recovered from their vehicles.

The agency carried out the investigations for the case and recovered the explosives hidden in 15 pressure cookers and large drums used to carry oil. Six canisters of diesel, five bottles filled with different kinds of splinters and three detonators were also found.

During the course of investigation, the arrested men confessed to being “suicide-attackers” and said they had planned to attack the Army House in Rawalpindi using the three vehicles and explosives and kill Pervez Musharraf, added the lawyer.

The convicts were planning to use two black Land Cruisers and a Toyota car to carry out the suicide attacks on the Army House from three different gates, with two men in each vehicle.

All the six convicted men had appealed against the decision of the trial court in the high court. The LHC is yet to take a decision on these appeals.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

Ayaz | 13 years ago | Reply The story should not stop at just these six men who are nothing but disposable foot soldiers who were slated to die in the attack anyway. Which organization do they belong to? Who provided them with funding for the planned attack? Buying three vehicles like the Land Cruzer and 900 kilos of explosives take a lot of money and planning. Who are the real perpetrators that planned and coordinated this attack?

hamid bajwa | 13 years ago | Reply musharraf was a brave great leader.he wasn't afraid to take on the religious terrorists,he took them head on instead of falling on his knees before the religious savages like the present govt. which even after losing their governor & minorities minister to islamic terrorists is still following a policy of appeasement of the religious bigots. Atleast musharraf tried to take action to restore govt's writ against the fudoos,he was brave enough to take action agains the religious fanatics who had illegally occupied the las masjid.we need more actions like that to show the religious barbarians that the govt. still exists & they won't be allowed to take over our country.

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