The alleged murderer of former minister for minorities’ affairs Shahbaz Bhatti has been arrested. Sources in Islamabad police told Pakistan Today that two alleged killers Zia-ur-Rehman and Malik Abid had fled to Dubai after killing Shahbaz Bhatti.
Bhatti was killed on March 2, 2011 outside of his residence in sector I/8 by unidentified gunmen. Later, the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the assassination.
They said that Interpol through Dubai police arrested one accused Zia-ur-Rehman while efforts were being made for the early arrest of the other accused. Interpol is the world’s largest International police organisation, with 190 member countries and assists member countries’ governments to arrest criminals who have escaped abroad. Police sources said that for bringing back the accused, Zia-ur-Rehman, a letter had been sent to the Interior Ministry.
They said after receiving formal request from the Islamabad police for shifting the accused from Dubai to Islamabad, the Interior Ministry has sent the summary to the Ministry of Law for its opinion.
“Now we are waiting for Law Ministry’s opinion, once we have been given a green signal from the government we will bring back the accused,” said a senior police officer of Islamabad police on Saturday. Earlier, on December 25, 2011 Interior Minister Rehman Malik while talking to media men in Islamabad held the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) responsible for the murder of Bhatti. “Bhatti’s assassins have been identified and that they belonged to the SSP. The killers fled to the Middle East after killing Bhatti while the government had issued ‘red warrants’ to bring the culprits back to Pakistan.” Malik had told the media, however, he did not disclose the name of the accused.
On the other hand, police sources said that an accused Hafiz Nazar who was arrested in connection with Bhatti’s murder had disclosed the names of the said accused. Later, Hafiz Nazar was acquitted by Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi, as police could not provide sufficient proof against him.
Shahbaz Bhatti had been working aggressively to promote interfaith harmony in Pakistan. Hailing from the Christian community of Pakistan, the Federal Minister for Minorities, was sanguine about the prospects of his success in promoting the cause of minorities in Pakistan. Talking to BBC World, he claimed, “I will prefer to die for the cause to defend the rights of my community rather than to compromise
on my principles,” further adding, “The forces of violence, militants, banned organizations, Taliban and al Qaeda, want to impose their radical philosophy in Pakistan and whosoever stands against it they threaten him.” Shahbaz Bhatti realized the sensitive nature of the controversial blasphemy law in Pakistan and therefore instead of calling for its outright repeal, demanded authorities and stakeholders to find a mechanism to stop its misuse. He was deeply perturbed over the assassination of then Punjab governor Salman Taseer. Taseer was killed by one of his bodyguards, following his criticism of the Blasphemy law and for expressing his desire to help Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of committing blasphemy. The minorities affairs minister was also not satisfied with the PPP decision to go on the defensive with regards to the blasphemy law.
It is pertinent to mention that despite the arrests with regards to the Shahbaz Bhatti case, the motive and the individuals responsible for his assassination remain still a mystery. While the officials investigating the report have named Malik Abid and Ziaur Rehman as the main accused, a report published in a local newspaper adds to the mystery of the probe by mentioning some startling revelations. The news report mentions how the accused were not identified by eye witnesses but rather by a Karachi based clergyman. The report mentions that the whistle blower was transported to Islamabad however upon visiting the FIA headquarter he felt intimidated and turned himself in. The report further adds, that during interrogation, the whistle blower said that he was in deep financial crisis and concocted the story to extract some money from the Ministers family for providing information about murderers. It is also intriguing that while common practice of sending request warrants to Interpol is through their local representative, in this case the request for warrants were sent directly by the interior ministry.
congradulation all christian community and specially pakistan gov. great acheavment keep it up appricate.
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