RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi on Tuesday handed over former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) on two-week judicial remand in Benazir Bhutto murder case. Moreover, the court also granted permission to Balochistan police to question the former army strongman in the Akbar Bugti killing case.
The former President was not presented in court due to security reasons.
Speaking to media personnel after the hearing, FIA’s special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali alleged that Musharraf was not cooperating with the investigation team.
Earlier last week, the court had sent him on a physical remand. Since then, FIA investigators have been questioning the former military ruler in the high profile murder probe.
Moreover, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi rejected Musharraf’s plea for reconstitution of the joint investigation team (JIT).
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007 while Musharraf was president. She was killed after addressing an election campaign rally in the city.
The ATC had indicted Musharraf in the case in February 2011, and in August the same year he was declared a proclaimed offender and his property was attached because of his absence.
Musharraf returned to Pakistan last month after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest the May 11 general election.
Election officials had barred Musharraf from running for the National Assembly earlier, effectively derailing his attempts to regain a place in politics by standing at the polls.
Although Musharraf’s legal battles have provided an electrifying sideshow in the election race, he commands scant popular support and the outcome of the drama is unlikely to have much impact on the final results.
