Bhutto murder case – FIA declares Musharraf an absconder

ISLAMABAD – In a major development in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday declared former president Pervez Musharraf an absconder and said the former president, who is wanted in the case for probe, might also be declared a proclaimed offender if he did not appear before the investigation team.
The FIA mentioned Musharraf’s name in the interim charge-sheet submitted with the Anti-Terrorism Court (ACT) hearing the murder case. The court also rejected the bail applications of former city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shehzad. They were produced before ATC Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed. In the hearing, FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar said that Musharraf would be declared “wanted” in the case.
“If Musharraf failed to appear before the investigation team, the FIA will submit an application in the court to declare him a proclaimed offender,” he said. Zulifqar said former CPO Aziz and SP Shehzad were in contact with the former president and they were taking instructions from him. He said Musharraf’s name had been included in the interim challan after investigating Aziz and Shehzad.
“The FIA has made efforts to investigate Musharraf and also sent a questionnaire to him but he did not reply so the FIA has declared him an absconder,” the prosecutor said. The FIA also submitted a forensic report of Benazir’s BlackBerry mobile phone in the court. The BlackBerry was recovered from Bilalwal House, Karachi, and President Asif Zardari had claimed to have given it to the staff at the former prime minister’s residence.
According to the report, Benazir had neither received any call nor had she called anyone from this set between 3pm and the time she was attacked on December 27, 2007. The report further claimed that Benazir had not even contacted her husband during that time. Arguing on the bail applications of Aziz and Shehzad, defence lawyer Wahid Anjum said there was no convincing evidence on the basis of which the two could be detained.
He said Aziz and Shahzad were kept on a 24-day physical remand but the investigation team was not able to produce substantial evidence. Anjum said the record of Bhuttto’s BlackBerry had been changed and questioned how did it reach Karachi from Rawalpindi? The case was adjourned until February 12.