PPP asked not to pressure investigation

Siddiqul Farooq advises PPP not to pressure the working of the joint investigation team, manipulate judicial inquiry.

ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Muslim League PML-N spokesperson, Siddiqul Farooq has alleged that some leaders of the PPP want to make the process of investigation and judicial probe of Salman Taseer's killing controversial.

Addressing a news conference on Thursday at the PML central Secretariat, Farooq said, "assertion of the PPP leadership that Governor Taseer's assassination was a political murder, amounts to its negative political agenda that demonstrates that certain PPP leaders intend to make the investigation and judicial probe a controversial process".

He said that as soon as the autopsy report after the postmortem of the slain governor was released on Wednesday, Islamabad's chief commissioner appointed an investigation team for the case.

Simultaneously, a judicial inquiry was instituted the same day. He added that the accused, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who has confessed his crime, is in the custody of the federal government who managed to also arrest the other members of the security contingent along with close relatives of the accused with their confessional statement.

Yet certain PPP leaders had chosen to declare it a political murder to divert the focus of the investigation and influence a judicial inquiry. He said that this tendency is highly commendable on their part.


"I would like to advise the PPP leaders and ministers not to attempt to pressure the working of the joint investigation team and manipulate the judicial inquiry", he exhorted.

PML-N spokesperson also said he would also like to point out that the Punjab government has issued a policy statement assuring that all the concerned would cooperate and coordinate at all stages of investigation of Taseer's assassination.

"I may also mention here that the son of late Governor, Sheharyar Taseer, had stated in the FIR that his father was under threat. This gives rise to the question as to why Mr Sheharyar had not informed the police earlier and other relevant institutions about the threats and as to who was hurling these threats. And if he had passed on such information to the institutions, this must be made part of the record for the joint investigation team and the judicial commission designated to hold the inquiry", he said.

He added that the Punjab government's responsibility of providing security to the late governor ended beyond Faizabad. The question arises why the federal government had not ensured the security of the late Taseer after that point, he added.

Another question that arose was as to why the intelligence agencies were kept in the dark about the murder threats being heaved on the governor.

Farooq has made a passionate appeal to the PPP's co-chairperson and President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other PPP leaders and ministers to refrain from issuing irresponsible statements over the assassination of Taseer just so the legal process and interrogation in the case is not tainted.
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