The Rawalpindi Anti Terrorism Court (ATC), hearing the Benazir Bhutto murder case, on Saturday recorded the statements of three witnesses and directed prosecution to produce six other witnesses at the next date of hearing.
ATC no 1 Judge Shahid Raffique resumed hearing of the case at the Adyala Jail. During the hearing, Warid Manager Usman Makhtoom, a witness of prosecution, was cross-examined. The three other witnesses were Zong Manager Ahmed Faisal, Chaudhry Taufeeq, the magistrate who recorded confessional statements of the accused in the Benazir case and constable Haider Ali, who delivered body parts of the suicide bomber, who blew himself up near Benazir’s vehicle, to the Forensic Lab in Lahore.
On the next date of hearing, the then deputy superintendent police (DSP) Ishtiaq Shah, sub inspector (SI) Zameer Ahmed, assistant sub inspector (ASI) Muhammad Nawaz, Javed Iqbal Lodhi, Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) officer Qamar Zaman and constable Mohsin Khan would record their statements before the ATC. After recording the statements of three witnesses and cross examining one witness of prosecution, the ATC Judge adjourned the hearing till February 4, 2012.
According to sources, during the hearing, Zong Manager Ahmed Faisal told the court that he was asked to provide the data of three mobile numbers which he handed over to Tariq Ilyas Kiyani, a member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), probing Benazir Bhutto murder case. He further informed the court that he had also recorded his statement before the JIT. The judge refused to include the record presented by Ahmed Faisal as the part of court documents, till the documents were signed by the issuing authority. The court also recorded the statement of the then magistrate, Chaudhry Taufeeq, who had recorded confessional statements of the accused in BB assassination case. He told the ATC that an accused, Aitzaz Shah, was presented before him, who confessed in his statement of being a part of the conspiracy that was hatched to kill the former prime minister of Pakistan. In his statement, the magistrate told the court that Aitzaz confessed that Baitullah Mehsood had ordered him to kill Benazir Bhutto.
Police constable Haidar Ali, the third prosecution witness, informed the court that he was given three packets, containing different body parts of the suicide bomber, by the then City Police Station moharer Salim Akhter and ASI Nawaz to deliver them to Lahore for forensic examination. He said that following the order of his seniors, he delivered the three packets to the Forensic Lab, Lahore.
During the cross examination of Warid Manager Usman Maftoon, the counsel for Aitzaz Shah, Naseer Tanwali, alleged that Usman was recording statements on the directions of FIA and the federal government. However, the witness denied the claim and told the court that he was recording the statement at his own will. After the conclusion of statements and cross examination, ATC Judge Shahid Raffique adjourned the hearing till February 4 and directed the prosecution to produce six other witnesses before the ATC on the next date of hearing to record their statements.
