Detention of five suspects in Benazir murder case extended

LAHORE: A provincial review board comprised of judges of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday extended detention of five persons acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The Punjab government had detained them soon after their release by the Rawalpindi’s trial court in the murder case of the former two times prime minister. The acquitted persons Rafaqat Hussain, Sher Zaman, Hasnain Gull, Abdul Rasheed and Aitzaz Shah allegedly belonged to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The government authorities produced them before the review board under strict security arrangements and sought 90 days extension in their detention period. They also presented documentary evidence in support of the detention of the acquitted suspects. The board headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan accepted the government’s request and extended detention of the TTP’s men for more 90 days.
Besides acquitting these five men of the charges, the trial court had declared former president Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the case and awarded 17-year imprisonment each to two senior police officers -Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad—for showing negligence in making security arrangements which led to assassination of Ms Bhutto on December 27, 2007, outside Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi. However, a bench of the LHC later suspended their sentence.