All involved in BB’s murder identified, says Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior A Rehman Malik said on Saturday that all those involved in the murder of Benazir Bhutto murder had been identified, arrested, tried under the law except for those who were killed mysteriously.

In a statement issued on the 13th assassination anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, he said a false impression was created by some with ulterior motives that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), during its tenure, was unable to arrest and investigate the killers of Benazir Bhutto.

Rehman Malik, who served as the interior minister during the PPP government from 2008 to 2013, said that the BB murder case was got transferred from the Punjab police to the FIA by the federal government and a joint investigation team (JIT) was constituted under Tariq Khosa for further investigation.

He said it remained a mystery in the minds of investigator as to how a drone hit only Obaidur Rehman alias Chattan and killed him in Khyber Agency, who was the main handler of Benazir Bhutto murder plan.

He said all the accused were convicted by the court, and now the [appeal] matter is pending in the court. “The investigation processes was very transparent and both the Parliament and the Sindh Assembly were kept informed,” he added.

The former interior minister said it had recently been found that the second suicide bomber, Ikramullah, who had fled the scene, and moved to Afghanistan after spending long time with Baitullah Mehsud. The Taliban also confirmed his presence in Kandahar, and it was also confirmed that two life attempts had been made on him last year, but he escaped. He said it was a mystery as to who wanted to kill him when he decided to appear on the BBC and confirms some facts.

He said he had written to the interior minister in January 2018 to ask the Afghan president to deport Ikramullah and Abu Mansoor Asim Mufti Noor Wali, the author of ‘Inqilab Mehsud South Waziristan: From British Raj to American Imperialism’, but sadly he got no response.

Rehman Malik said when five terrorists — Abdul Rashid, Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Sher Zaman, who were declared guilty of murdering Benazir Bhutto by the JIT, were released, he demanded the interior ministry to place their names on the exit control list (ECL) to avoid their fleeing abroad.

He said the investigation showed that the conspiracy of killing Benazir Bhutto was hatched at Room No 96 of Madrasa Haqqania, Akora Khattak. One Ibadur Rehman had brought a suicide bomber to the Madrasa from the then TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud, who stayed in Room No 96 overnight. The JIT had collected the original admission record with photographs, addresses and parentage from the madrasa of those students who conspired and then executed the conspiracy, he added.

He said the JIT revealed that accused Nasrullah, who brought suicide bombers in Rawalpindi on Dec 26, 2007, and Ibadur Rehman, the planner, were later on found to have been killed in separate operations by the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs).