Benazir Bhutto murder case: LHC issues arrest warrants for Aitzaz Shah, Zaman

ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday while expressing annoyance over non-appearance of accused, Aitzaz Shah and Sher Zaman, issued their arrest warrant.

A division bench of the LHC, Rawalpindi Bench, comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Sadiq Mehmood Khurram heard appeals against the verdict of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Rawalpindi, in Benazir Bhutto murder case.

The bench also issued notice to the City Police Officer (CPO), Rawalpindi directing him to arrest Aitzaz Shah and Sher Zaman, and present them before the court on the next date of the hearing.

The other three accused in the BB murder case, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gill, and Abdur Rashid, are in the jail as they failed to submit their surety bonds. Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had filed appeal against the acquittal of the five accused, while the ex-CPO Rawalpindi, Saud Aziz, and Khurram Shahzad, a former Superintendent of Police (SP) at Rawal Town have challenged their sentences in the LHC, Rawalpindi bench.

During the proceedings, advocate Sardar Latif Khosa requested the bench to issue summon of former army chief General Pervez Musharraf (retired). The court said they were examining the presence of the accused, and on the next date they would hear him on this issue.

The ATC Rawalpindi, in 2017, had acquitted five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects and awarded 17-year imprisonment to two police officials.

The ATC had also declared retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, an absconder in the case.

Saud Aziz, who was police chief of Rawalpindi when Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, and Khurram Shahzad, a former Superintendent of Police (SP) at Rawal Town, were each awarded 17 years in prison.

Aziz and Shahzad were accused of negligence in security arrangements, which subsequently led to the assassination of the former prime minister in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007.

The five TTP suspects, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah, and Abdul Rashid, have been cleared of all charges in the murder trial.

The court had directed authorities to seize Musharraf’s properties and issue perpetual arrest warrants for the former dictator. The case was adjourned until October 19th.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020