Two prosecution witnesses have backtracked from their earlier stance against two senior police officers who were allegedly involved in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The witnesses now claim that the said police officers had ordered hosing down the crime scene in ‘good faith’.
The development surfaced on Thursday, when hearing of the case resumed in an antiterrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi. Experts say following this development, hearing of the already delayed Benazir murder case might be delayed further. In statements registered earlier, the witnesses had said that they followed orders of the said police officers regarding washing of the crime scene.
On Thursday however, they claimed that their senior ordered them to wash the crime scene in good faith, because all evidence had already been collected.
During the course of hearing, Abdul Rehman, head of rescue 1122 Rawalpindi and former official of fire-fighting department Ghulam Ahmed Naz, were the main prosecution witnesses against the police officials booked for negligence and lack of security at Liaqat Bagh on December 27, 2007.
Malik Rafique, counsel for the police officers, said in order to avert any untoward incident the witnesses complied with the order of the police to wash the blood from the crime scene and it had been done in ‘good faith’.
On the basis of previous statements of the witnesses, the FIA charged the police officers–the then city police officer Saud Aziz and superintendent of police Khurram Shahzad–for destroying evidence by ordering to clean the crime scene and for the breach of security of Benazir. Earlier on January 29, the ATC judge had summoned the report of a commission constituted in February 2008 for initial probe of the murder case. The said commission, presided by the then Punjab law secretary Farooq Sheikh, had cleared the police officials from any accusation.
Both police officials were later implicated in the case after the investigation was transferred from Punjab Police to the FIA. The FIA again recorded the statements of the said witnesses. In 2010, ATC issued arrest warrants for police officers Aziz and Shahzad, but later granted them bail.
On Thursday, the witnesses Rehman and Naz, replying to questions from the defence counsel said the police had collected all incrementing evidence before washing of the crime scene.
They also admitted that they were not cross examined at the time when the FIA recorded their statements. Rehman, in-charge of rescue 1122, said the shocking news of Benazir’s murder enraged political workers and the police, in order to control the law and order situation, had ordered washing of blood from the crime scene.
FIA special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told Pakistan Today that slight discrepancy in the statement of the witnesses is part of cross examination and therefore, it would not affect the case of the prosecution. He said the FIA had implicated both police officials after a thorough probe.
