ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad Police on Friday approached Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of late Salmaan Taseer, to grill him over the murder of Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti. With the special permission of anti-terrorism court’s judge Rana Nasir Ahmed, the police team probing into the killing of Bhatti visited the Adiala Jail where they interrogated Qadri for hours. However, no significant development was reported, a source said. The police sources said Qadri told the interrogators that he killed Taseer on his own and had nothing to do with Bhatti’s assassination.
“I killed the governor for terming the blasphemy law as a black law and I have nothing to do with Bhatti’s killers,” a source quoted Qadri as saying. Meanwhile, police rounded up 30 people from various areas of metropolitan Islamabad, particularly from Sector 1/8, where Bhatti was residing. Bhatti was shot dead on Thursday by self-proclaimed ‘Punjabi Taliban’ over his opposition to the blasphemy law in Sector I/8, which falls within the jurisdiction of Industrial Area Police Station. Talking to Pakistan Today, SP Industrial Area Ishaq Warraich said two teams had been sent to Lahore and Jhelum to trace out the culprits.
