Formality: Musharraf arrested in Bugti case
Balochistan police interrogates ex-president; can no longer be treated as fugitive.
Akbar Bugti. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was formally arrested on Thursday in the Nawab Akbar Bugti murder case as well.
Musharraf, who has constantly been under fire since his return to Pakistan, was interrogated by the Balochistan police in the high-profile case.
The provincial police too formally arrested Musharraf in the 2006 murder of the president of the Jamhoori Watan Party. Akbar Bugti was killed on August 26, 2006, in a cave complex near Dera Bugti, Balochistan, as a result of a military operation ordered by Musharraf, then the country’s president. He was charged in the case in 2009.
The five-member Balochistan police investigation team arrived at his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad, which has been declared a sub-jail, around noon on Thursday to question Musharraf, after an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi gave them the permission to include Musharraf in the murder case investigations.
Court officials told The Express Tribune that the team had on April 26 filed a petition in the court, but it was asked to interrogate Musharraf once the FIA was done questioning the ex-president in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The Balochistan Police investigation team then returned on Thursday and sought the permission to interrogate Musharraf which was approved by the ATC.
Since Musharraf is already being held on judicial remand, the investigation team had to seek permission from the ATC. The formal arrest will now mean that the Balochistan police will now no longer be able to treat the former president as a fugitive in the murder case.
The five-member team, which was constituted by the Balochistan provincial government after the case was registered, is headed by Sardar Abdul Majeed, the director of Crime Branch of Balochistan police.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2013.
Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was formally arrested on Thursday in the Nawab Akbar Bugti murder case as well.
Musharraf, who has constantly been under fire since his return to Pakistan, was interrogated by the Balochistan police in the high-profile case.
The provincial police too formally arrested Musharraf in the 2006 murder of the president of the Jamhoori Watan Party. Akbar Bugti was killed on August 26, 2006, in a cave complex near Dera Bugti, Balochistan, as a result of a military operation ordered by Musharraf, then the country’s president. He was charged in the case in 2009.
The five-member Balochistan police investigation team arrived at his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad, which has been declared a sub-jail, around noon on Thursday to question Musharraf, after an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi gave them the permission to include Musharraf in the murder case investigations.
Court officials told The Express Tribune that the team had on April 26 filed a petition in the court, but it was asked to interrogate Musharraf once the FIA was done questioning the ex-president in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The Balochistan Police investigation team then returned on Thursday and sought the permission to interrogate Musharraf which was approved by the ATC.
Since Musharraf is already being held on judicial remand, the investigation team had to seek permission from the ATC. The formal arrest will now mean that the Balochistan police will now no longer be able to treat the former president as a fugitive in the murder case.
The five-member team, which was constituted by the Balochistan provincial government after the case was registered, is headed by Sardar Abdul Majeed, the director of Crime Branch of Balochistan police.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2013.