The Sindh government has decided that former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf would be arrested when he returns to the country and lands at Karachi airport. Musharraf had announced at a public meeting on January 8 in Karachi that he would return to the country by the end of this month. He would be arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) former chairperson Benazir Bhutto and leader of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Nawab Akbar Bugti. The Sindh government has received arrest warrants from a Rawalpindi court that declared him an absconder. Addressing a press conference, Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wassan said the murder case of Nawab Akbar Bugti was registered on October 2009.
“A court in Dera Bugti issued arrest warrants for Musharraf and he and two others were declared absconders. A special court in Rawalpindi has also declared Musharraf an absconder and issued his arrest warrants,” he said. “Pervez Musharraf has announced that he will return any day between January 27 and 30. When he reaches Karachi airport, he will be arrested for the murder of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti. He will first be kept in Landhi jail, which is his favorite. After that, he will be sent to Dera Bugti and Rawalpndi courts. Until today, only civilian leaders were arrested, but now it will be proved that all are equal before law,” Wassan said. “He will be sent to jail after arrest as an ordinary criminal. Facilities of A or C class in jails will be given only on orders of the judiciary,” he added. “As the home minister, it is my obligation to arrest Musharraf and send him to jail,” Wassan said, adding that Musharraf would be sent to the very jail “where he used to send us when he was in power”.