RAWALPINDI, Jan 25: Pakistani investigators probing Benazir Bhutto’s assassination have recorded statements of 139 people, including 90 police officers who were on duty when she was killed outside the Liaquat Bagh, Dawn learnt on Friday.
The Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO), the SSP (Operations) and some superintendents of police are among those whose statements have been recorded.
According to the police’s security plan, the overall supervision of the Dec 27 rally was assigned to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Yasin Farooq, while Rawal SP Khuram Shahzad was overseeing security arrangements.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch), Rawalpindi, had been asked to sweep the area for explosives and collect intelligence. People with video cameras were also deployed.
An official said that handwritten statements of some senior police officers were verified by a police department expert and then handed over to the investigators.
He said Civil Lines Circle SP Syed Ashfaq Ahmed was supervising the security team deputed for Ms Bhutto. His call sign was given as ‘Naveed’.
During Ms Bhutto’s movements, a section of the Elite Force (six men) was to remain on the left and right sides of her vehicle while another detachment was to cover the vehicle’s rear. The SP escorted her vehicle.
The investigators also received a medical report on Ms Bhutto’s brain matter, the source said.
The previous report mentioned that she had open wounds on her left temporal bone from which brain matter was exuding when she was brought to the Rawalpindi General Hospital. The report did not say what had caused the wound, apparently because no autopsy had been performed.
Two bullet casings and a 30-bore pistol, believed to be that of the suicide bomber, had been found from the crime scene.
The source said at least six people were involved in the plot to assassinate Ms Bhutto, adding that the suicide bomber had been one of them.
