Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) on Monday indicted Mumtaz Hussain Qadri in assassination case of Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, as prosecution filed charge sheet against the accused before the court. After indicting Mumtaz Qadri, an Elite force Commando and security guard, in assassination of Salmaan Taseer. The hearing was adjourned till February 26.
Raja Ikhlaq Hussain, Judge of the ATC-II resumed the hearing of the Salmaan Taseer assassination case in high security prison Central Jail Adiala. The learned judge asked prosecution and defence counsels to present witnesses in the next hearing.
Mumtaz Qadri is facing the charges of January 4 murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer whom he gunned down in Kohsar Market of F-6/3 of Islamabad's high security Red Zone. The prosecution framed charges against Mumtaz Qadri and presented formal charge sheet in assassination of Salmaan Taseer, before the ATC.
The accused Mumtaz Qadri was indicted after he himself admitted the crime, saying that he has lonely killed Salmaan Taseer for his remarks against the blasphemy law. Qadri informed the court that he himself killed Taseer and there was no political motivation or any conspiracy in the murder.
The defence counsel, Malik Rafique after hearing apprised the media that during the hearing in Adiala Jail, Mumtaz Qadri recorded his statement that he did not commit man slaughter instead he was provoked to kill the governor Punjab as his statements were blasphemous, which according to the Sharia is legit. Therefore, court will now listen to Mumtaz's position before making a decision.
Hundreds of supporters of Mumtaz Qadri gathered outside the Central Jail Adiala, where he was presented before the Anti Terrorist Court for hearing. Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Salmaan Taseer Governor Punjab on January 4, joined Punjab Police in 2002 under belt number 6990, while in 2007 he joined the Elite Force after a gruelling training as a commando. He was serving in Elite Force Rawalpindi as constable on VVIP Security. He used to offer prayers five times a day. Before the assassination, he never committed any crime and his service record is without any blemish. He was never accused of corruption or misuse of power and his behaviour towards his officers was respectful.
Besides performing the security duty with slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, Malik Mumtaz Qadri performed a total of 509 VIP and VVIP security duties from April 24, 2008 to January 4, 2011. This is subsequent to his being declared a security risk for VVIP security in 2004 by Nasir Durrani, Additional Inspector General of Punjab Police, said an intelligence report.
Qadir performed security duties with almost all top VVIP functionaries including President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Opposition Leader in NA Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik. He performed security duties on PAF base for four times in 2008, eight times in 2009 and six times in 2010. Qadri was also part of a team of Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that raided terrorist outfits in 2008.