Musharraf didn’t get Benazir Bhutto assassinated: Rao Anwar

LAHORE: Former Malir SSP Rao Anwar has ruled out the involvement of Pervez Musharraf in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto besides putting a question mark over the PPP’s role in the investigation into Karsaz incident and BB’s murder case.

Talking to Saleem Safi in Geo’s programme 'Jirga' Saturday, he said Pervez Musharraf had no hand in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination because he was already under attack from Taliban and al-Qaeda. He said the PPP was not interested in investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. “Ikram Mehsud was not arrested in the Karsaz tragedy although the PPP had remained in power for five years.”

He said Sindh IGP AD Khawaja was a hypocrite, adding that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had removed him when he arrested MQM’s Khawaja Izhar. He also claimed that in 2007 at the request of Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Senator Anwar Baig, he had given ‘material’ against Altaf Hussain to Imran Khan.

Speaking in the programme, the former SSP said that he had neither killed Naqibullah Mehsud nor he had such an accusation against him. He said he had learnt that Naqibullah was being killed in an encounter. He rushed to the site but the encounter had taken place.

He said the message the SHO had texted him was forwarded to the IGP and DIG. Rao Anwar said Naqibullah Mehsud was a terrorist and there was evidence to back his claim. One of his colleagues Qari Ihsan is in jail. Pictures of Naqibullah, who was declared an absconder in 2016, were edited on social media. He claimed that he had put an end to kidnappings for ransom in Karachi.

In the Naqibullah case, he said Additional IGP Mushtaq Mehr should have been the head of the inquiry committee. He said AD Khawaja deliberately chose Additional IG Sanaullah Abbasi, who himself had been involved in such things. He said Sanaullah Abbasi was angry at him because he had refused to oblige him twice.

Rao Anwar said former chief justice Saqib Nisar had taken notice of the Naqibullah case at the request of Manzoor Pashteen. The former CJP had given an extension to the AD Khawaja telling him that he would not be removed.

He said he failed to understand on what ground Saqib Nisar had taken the suo motu notice. Sindh IGP AD Khawaja had brought Naqibullah’s father forcibly from the village. The IGP told him that he would hand him over some men and he had to kill them and throw their bodies but he refused to do so.

The former SSP said he had killed just two MQM people in encounters and one of them was terrorist Farooq Dada. He claimed he had got promotion because of seniority. He said he had also caught the Lyari gang people in Malir area.