ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah has accused ‘foreign elements’ of being involved in the massive violence that followed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

It was a well planned conspiracy by a foreign country to cause devastation at such a scale, he told Dawn on Monday,

Dr Shah insisted that rioters had been “hired by foreign elements” and refused to accept that the mayhem was a spontaneous reaction to the tragedy.

The finance minister, however, said: “Those who were behind it will be exposed.”

Dr Shah said that the country’s “enemies had implemented their plan to target strategic communications, telecommunication and railway installations which “cannot go unnoticed by the government which has already ordered a thorough inquiry into the incident”.

“It was not a small disturbance but was a very calculated intrigue to create such a huge law and order problem in the country”, he said.

Nevertheless, he said that normalcy was fast returning and there would be business as usual in a day or so.

Most of the businesses, he pointed out, had resumed in all the provinces.

The finance minister dispelled the impression that the government machinery was deliberately not used to deal with the situation.

Dr Shah said that nobody would be allowed to take law into his own hands and law and order would be maintained at all costs.

Commenting on the massive drop in the KSE index, the finance minister said the stock market was part of the country and it suffered losses like other businesses because of a “very unfortunate incident” in the history of Pakistan.

Dr Shah said that the caretaker government would provide “necessary support and protection” to the business community and in future, criminal elements would be dealt with severely.

Security agencies and law-enforcement personnel had been ordered to ensure peace and security.