LHC issues arrest warrants for Benazir murder suspects

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants of two accused affiliated with proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for not appearing before the court in Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto murder case.

A division bench comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Sadiq Mehmood Khurram heard the case. While hearing the appeals of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the court expressed annoyance over the absence of the accused Sher Zaman and Aitzaz Shah, who were acquitted by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on August 31, 2017 from the charges of involvement in the murder of the former prime minister.

The court also ordered the regional police officer and city police officer for submitting a detailed report of three other accused—Rafaqat Hussain, Hussnain Gul and Abdul Rasheed—as well as ensuring presence of Sher Zaman and Aitzaz Shah on the next hearing on October 19.

Zaman and Shah had been acquitted by the ATC on surety bonds, while Rafaqat Hussain, Hussnain Gul and Abdul Rasheed failed to provide surety bonds and were in judicial custody.

The petitioner’s counsel former governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa asked the court to bring back former president Gen Pervez Musharraf in the country, who had been declared absconder by the ATC in the Benazir murder case.