A review board comprising judges of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday extended detention of five persons acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in Benazir Bhutto murder case. The acquitted persons Rafaqat Hussain, Sher Zaman, Hasnain Gull, Abdul Rasheed and Aitzaz Shah allegedly belonged to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Punjab government had detained them soon after their release by the Rawalpindi's trial court in murder case of the former prime minister. Earlier, police produced them before the review board under strict security arrangements and sought 90-day extension in their detention period. They also presented documentary evidence in support of the detention of the acquitted suspects. Besides acquitting these persons of the charges, the trial court had declared former president Pervez Musharraf an absconder and awarded 17-year imprisonment each to two senior police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad for showing negligence in security arrangements. A LHC bench however later suspended their sentence.