FIA prosecutor shot dead in brutal daylight raid

• Deceased was prosecutor in the high-profile Benazir Bhutto murder case
• IGP says some banned outfit responsible for the attack

In an attack that has raised serious question on police performance, unidentified gunmen on Friday shot to death a public prosecutor in the Benazir Bhutto murder case that accuses ex-military chief Pervez Musharraf of involvement in the assassination.

The unidentified gunmen killed FIA Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali on Friday morning in Sector G-9/1, few meters away from his house, when he was en-route to the FIA building.

However, when he turned onto Rohtas Road to proceed toward the FIA building, the killers fired a salvo of bullets at his car, targeting him from all sides.

The fired at least 13 bullets at Zulfiqar, who was driving the car.

Resultantly he lost control of the vehicle, which first rammed into passer-by woman and then into a footpath and got off the road.

The deceased woman has been identified as Robina Bibi, a mother of four.

The attackers managed to flee.

Until the filing of this report, the police were still clueless about the murder and even hundreds of police personnel deployed at more than 70 pickets across the federal capital failed to trace the assailants.

Owing to the killing, the hearing of the Benazir Bhutto case was adjourned.

In the case, a JIT had declared TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud the mastermind of the killing, while five alleged militants are currently behind bars for their involvement in the murder.

Deceased Chaudhry Zulfiqar had represented the state in Mumbai attacks case as well. He had interrogated seven alleged conspirators, who belonged to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Witnesses gave different accounts of the attack. Some claimed that two attackers on a motorbike intercepted Zulfiqar’s car and opened fire. “I saw two youngsters on a bike intercepting the car and opening indiscriminate fire. The bike was being covered by a taxi and the attackers sped away later while the taxi also moved away,” said Safdar.

Zulfiqar’s bodyguard also retaliated with gunfire, injuring one of them, but the attackers managed to flee nonetheless.

“I have no idea where they came from. They intercepted our car all of a sudden and sprayed it with bullets from all sides. I think they fled in a taxi,” said the injured body guard Farman Ali, who is being treated at PIMS.

He received bullet injuries on his leg.

Following the attack, locals of the area took bullet-riddled Zulfiqar and his injured bodyguard Farman to PIMS. Initial post-mortem report suggested that he received at least 13 bullets in his head, chest and shoulders.

PIMS spokesman Waseem Khawaja also confirmed that there were 17 wounds on the prosecutor’s body.

Police cordoned off the site of the incident and started search operation in the area.

However, Islamabad IGP Bani Amin said police found a pamphlet from the crime scene, which said those who were engaged in prosecuting mujahideeen would meet the same fate.

Talking to reporters, the IGP said Zulfiqar had received some threats and due to that he was provided FC guards.

He said Zulfiqar was provided with extra security by the government last year as after he was implicated in threats received by law enforcement agencies.

“It seems some banned outfit killed the prosecutor. We found a pistol and a mobile phone of one of the fleeing attackers from crime scene. The police will investigate the case on technical basis,” Bani Amin added.

Caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib constituted a joint Investigation team to probe into the incident. A JIT has started work under the supervision of DIG Tahir Alam Khan.

Margalla police station SHO Arshad Abro said area police was not aware of any threats received by the deceased, as he had never approached the police.