Pakistan

Benazir murder case: Detained cops name senior army officials

Aziz, Shahzad admit having been in touch with intelligence officers.

Express December 24, 2010

RAWALPINDI: Detained ex-police officials of Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad have admitted that they were in contact with four or five high-ranking army officials belonging to Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) during and after the gun-and-bomb attack on Benazir Bhutto, according to public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar.

Talking to reporters outside the anti-terorism court where the Benazir Bhutto murder case was being heard, Zulfiqar said that the detained police officers had disclosed their names and anyone nominated by them would be included in the investigation.

According to him, the authorities had included 24 important personalities in the murder investigation and he said that their names would be included in the charge-sheet.

Zulfiqar said that the investigation was being run on scientific lines, adding that it was completely transparent.

Pledging to unveil people actually behind the Benazir assassination, he said: “We will not succumb to any administrative or political pressure in this regard.”

Highlighting various legal aspects of the case, he said that according to section 21-A of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the crime scene should have been preserved for at least 15 days, adding that these police officials had washed away the crime scene just one hour and 10 minutes after the assassination.

This was a heinous act and amounted to eliminating important evidence, he said, adding that the local investigators had collected important evidence even after two and a half years of the incident, which were analysed by a modern forensic laboratory in the United States. “The report (in this matter) was made part of the charge-sheet.”

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) handed over on Thursday former city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shahzad on a six-day physical remand to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

Both police officials were produced before the ATC whose Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed rejected applications filed by the two officials in which they had urged it to send them to jail.

During the hearing, Public Prosecutor Chaudhary Zulfiqar submitted an application before the court for obtaining their 12-day-long physical remand. The court, however, granted a physical remand of six days.

Accusing the suspects of making false statements, the public prosecutor told the court that the physical remand was important for the recovery of mobile phones used by the police officials, adding that it would help investigators in determining the actual people behind the killing.

Call records, the public prosecutor said, would help investigators ascertain the nature of their communications.

However, Malik Waheed Anjum, the counsel for the detained police officials, told the court that there was no need for the physical remand because both officials had already handed over their mobile phones.

He told the court that this was a murder case and the FIA had no authority to investigate the matter, adding that their further interference would be illegal.

FIA’s joint investigation team was an independent body comprising officials of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other departments concerned. Only this body had a legal authority to investigate them, the legal counsel of the police officials told the court.

According to him, anyone nominated by the suspects would be taken into custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (18)

mussarat Hussain | 13 years ago | Reply Very good initiative to re-open enquiry on the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Being a journalist, I can say with complete authority and command that "Nothing will happen". Nothing will come out. No one will be hanged. Let's start history of "assassinations" in Pakistan from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Although I was born in 1955, I wasn't present at the time when Quaid died. But incidents that followed aftermath of the Quaid's death suggests that Quaid was also "assassinated" under a plan hatched by some hidden lobby at that time. We will also have to expose heinous faces involved in the assassination of Liaquat Ali khan. Zia was not assassinated. Dictators are always killed. Mussarat usa

A Suhail | 13 years ago | Reply "In my opinion" is different from " with conclusive evidence". This is the authors opinion which he made after looking at the medical reports and x ray of her brain. Secondly after the first suicide attack on Mush, the pindi area where the attack took was closed for 5 days so that the forensic evidence could be collected but in Benazir's case the crime scene was washed right away. By the arguments you are putting that we are as comparable to African countries so lets just get rid of the police and the courts. Who need these anyways because in africa they have none of these. Lets also stop investigating any murders or armed robberies because we are not like France/Britain so why care. In JFK's case police didnt hosed the scene down neither did they went and threatened the doctors to stop the autopsy. The doctor who was at hand in the hospital blamed Mr Saud Aziz from doing his work. And BB's right hand man is signalling someone. I am glad you found the evidence we all are looking for. UN commission missed it, our very own security forces failed but you found the culprit

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SS | 13 years ago | Reply @ arastu In case of a WOMAN ( which BB was in you failed to notice that) it is the LAW that you need to ask the HUSBAND/FATHER/SON for permission to proceed. If that is denied a court order is needed. Also the investigating officer, the SHO is responsible for the post mortem. Its his duty he does not need to be told what to do.... And as for playing the blame game... we can play it all day long. Infact for years like we have always done. If we start with the chain of command then we should look at the IG and the the RPO and then the CPO and then the SP(s) and the SHO(s) ... see where Im going with this? Also I have a question for you! What did they not recover from the scene? And really like I keep saying! Watch the video of the rally. BB's right hand man is signalling someone through out the video. And guess what happens next. HE DIES. Someone kills him. And oh what were the people in the car ( which by the way was bomb proof and bullet proof) doing when she decided to come out of it? Can you answer that? She had a death threat after all. Would you come out of the car and make yourself an open target when you know someone out there is after you?

SS | 13 years ago | Reply @ A suhail As for the question of the cause of death here is the a paragraph from the Scotland Yards Report. In his report Dr Cary states: “the only tenable cause for the rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effects of the bomb-blast.” “in my opinion Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb-blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle.” Does that satisfy the question of cause of death? By the way this was the inquiry requested by the Govt. And I think you misunderstood what I was saying when I said matam. The wise guy as you mention was wise. Because in the limited time he had, he picked up all the evidence that he could before the people actually did matam and destroyed whatever they had. Before they torched the city and shed their own blood and others. A lesson in LAW for you and a little about crime scene investigation from the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin: Ask crime scene technicians to name the biggest problem that they encounter on the job and you will consistently hear the same response--crime scene contamination. Widespread trampling of crime scenes can prove very damaging to investigations. Often, it results in several of the more sensitive forensic techniques--such as trace analysis, bloodspatter interpretation, and DNA comparison--not being used to their fullest potential. Trampling through the scene can seriously hamper investigations. And If you plan to make the argument that one could have stopped the mobs within the city from trampling the area then I feel that you have to reassess the arguments you are making. How much do you know about policing? And Policing in Pakistan my friend. Try asking someone sometime it might be that you would learn a thing a two about the country you live in. As for the comparisons you are making. Are you serious? You are comparing us to the UK and FRANCE? I feel that the comparison is not fair because there are no similarities in our systems and ways of life. First of all Diana wasn’t assassinated and as for the case Dr. Imran Farooq I would like to remind you that he was in London after all and secondly not coming out of a rally and also wasn’t surrounded by a mob. He was gunned down and left. The current state we are in I think a comparison with the African countries might be better don’t you think. We pretty much follow the same regime. Dictators, corrupt politicians, people defending corrupt politicians, and poverty. The list is endless. And let me tell you something about these countries you are comparing this case to. They payout people to keep their mouth shut. Huge compensations with non disclosure agreements are paid out so that the secrets are kept safe. So do not believe everything the media tells you. But just on the subject of comparing what happened in the JFK cases? He was assassinated too wasn’t he? And another couple of American Presidents. I feel that the person responsible was held accountable not the police itself. Because really there were thousands of people attending his procession as were in the BB case. How can you possibly check each and every person. Maybe next time you should volunteer for the checking people.

arastu | 13 years ago | Reply If someone is MURDERED , you dont need to ask anyone for a permission or autopsy...or post mortem. It is Essential. Whoever gave the orders for the washing away of the crime scene should really tell the story. Fire brigades were following an Order..!! WHO GAVE THAT ORDER - ( is a an accomplice and is deliberately destroying crucial evidence)

Mohammed Moinuddin | 13 years ago | Reply I fully agree with the comments expressed by Mr.Bilal Khan. Benazir was killed infront of the TV viewers watching on that particular day all over the world and still lot of proof is available on the TV footage and this will remain FOREVER.. Obvisouly it is inside plus outside job.I think Insiders are still fully protected by the establishment Goverment is very week to investigate the Banazir murder case.UN report was partly very good it pointed out in the right direction but it is thrown out in the dust bin due to the fear of the establishment. Now it is left to the independent Media and Judiciary to do the job.Can they do it?to avoid these things happing again and again ie Pakistan's popular leaders being murdered frequently.

Bilal Khan | 13 years ago | Reply I am just waiting for the day the common person in pakistan begins to see through the charade of the ISI/MI. The army is costing Paksitan dearly. Even the chinese have shown that economy is THE MOST important thing and if the army is really as strong as they claim then they should be happy to defend Pakistan not attack everyone else, both inside and outside Pakistan. The army controls the media, politicians, police, land grabbings, judiciary and almost everything else. Wakeup Pakistanis before you start to kill each other and your own future generations.

open | 13 years ago | Reply yesterday the PM admitted before the Parliament that no one can dare to direct ISI to do or not to do a certain act with their own willingness. Does it not demonstrate amply demonstrate the Political Leadership's Sheer Helplessness and lack of will to call the shots? Don't be carried away by the impression that he was being firm to his American Audience and telling them that he will protect Gen Pasha against the US court summon, rather he was conveying to them that he was subordinate to them rather than supperiour to them.

Zayna Siddiqi | 13 years ago | Reply This investigation is just a ploy to appease PPP workers and general public and will fizzle out soon after BB's anniversary No high profile murder/assassination in Pakistan has ever been investigated and findings made known. Why should this murder be any different? Time (three years) taken to start the investigations was not without reason. All 'modalities' were being worked out. Millions of dollars were wasted on investigation by the UN. What happened of this investigation? Any body mentioning of this report any time any where? No. If somebody is serious in probing this murder the basic rule of Police investigation, who benefitted, has to be followed. Zayna, Mississauga, ON. Canada

Cautious | 13 years ago | Reply Whats it going to take for Pakistani's to get off the internet/couch and finally do something about the ISI ? A corrupt organization responsible to no one - even your own politicians are afraid - its bad enough that it secretly supports terrorist but one would think that the assassination of a prominent politician would get the public angry.

A Suhail | 13 years ago | Reply @SS. Have you ever studied law my friend. There are no exceptions in law. If a law says you must do post mortem then there is no question why it was not done. Just because to stop people from doing matam etc these guys returned her body and cleaned the crime scene of all forensic evidence. So now we do not know what killed Benazir, the bullet or the lever, we do not know how many people were involved etc. There are so many unanswered questions because w wise guy assumed people will do "matam" so lets wash everything and bury her hastily. So next time an important leader is assassinated we should wash the crime scene and bury him/her without post mortem because our mob mentality will only result in burning cities. Do you recall how long Prince Diana's body was at the hands of French? Do you recall how long they held the body of Dr Imran Farooq in london? If things were done the way they were suppose to be we would ahve gotten our answers and now we only have conspiracy theories.

Saqee | 13 years ago | Reply who killed Zia ul haq ? who killed Murtaza bhutto ? who killed Benazir ? who killed Hakeem Saeed ? who killed imran farooq ? who killed Azeem Ahmed tariq ? who killed Liaqat Ali khan ? and who killed to be kill ? the factor "Who" would always remain a mystery for Pakistani Nation...becuase, "Secret people keep secret matters secret forever" and we the innocent, weak, simple, fearful, poor, worried nation of Pakistan keep talking about it ....

R.Raheem | 13 years ago | Reply If they open their mouth they will go to sleep!

SS | 13 years ago | Reply "These individuals willingly submitted themselves to be exploited by the army high ups and now they should reap the fruits of their stupidity. Put them behind bars for the rest of their natural lives." Mr A Suhail I wonder what gives you the right to say that. And as for the questions of post mortem and scene washing, I tell you something! The law requires you to ask permission from the next of kin before a post mortem can be carried out. Zardari denied that and the next step would have been a court order. Do you think the mob would have waited on for a court order? Or would PPP have waited on a court order. Sir, the country we live in has something the psychologists like to call a mob mentality. Our mob mentality only allows us to torch our cities and cause destruction. Do you really believe that the people would have not carried out a "matam" on site and around (mayeb within) the hospital and further destroyed the scene and the evidence?

A Suhail | 13 years ago | Reply Scapegoat???? They were responsible for her safety and they failed in the dereliction of their duty. Police is an institution independent of the army and these guys must not take orders from army officers and must do what the law says. These individuals willingly submitted themselves to be exploited by the army high ups and now they should reap the fruits of their stupidity. Put them behind bars for the rest of their natural lives.

Immymud | 13 years ago | Reply Asalamualaikum... i just wan'na say that nothing left in this case after the investigation team has take the custody if the detained police officers, and i my opinion nothing is going to happen to anyone and this case will also remains mystery like many before. because in any mean they find the truth they will never ever able to show it to the nation. Thanks

Realist | 13 years ago | Reply Anyone else thinking that these two are just framed and used as a scapegoat to frame other people or is it just me?

Noor | 13 years ago | Reply None could have carried out an attack of this scale without the knowledge or patronage of the Is and Ms!

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