ISLAMABAD, May 3: Special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, who was killed in the federal capital on Friday, was facing internal and external pressure while pursuing high profile cases.

These cases included Benazir Bhutto murder, Mumbai attacks and Haj corruption.

On the one hand, he was working under fear of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and on the other authorities in the interior ministry were not happy with him and wanted to remove him from the Benazir murder case three days before his death.

During a telephonic conversation with this reporter on Monday (April 29), advocate Zulfiqar had said certain authorities in the interior ministry were not happy with his interaction with journalists.

At a meeting regarding the Benazir murder case the same day at the interior ministry, advocate Zulfiqar was warned that he might be de-notified from the murder case.

“They were upset over the leakage of certain information and suspecting me of leaking the news regarding the interrogation of former interior minister Rehman Malik in the Benazir murder case,” he said.

Advocate Zulfiqar was referring to a story published in Dawn on Monday according to which Gen Musharraf during the investigation of the murder case alleged that being security adviser to Ms Bhutto, Rehman Malik was also responsible for her security.

The security arrangements for the December 27, 2007, public gathering at Liaquat Bagh were made with the consent of Mr Malik, said the former military ruler.

After attending the public gathering, Ms Bhutto was assassinated as she waved to the crowd from her bulletproof car while leaving the venue.

Advocate Zulfiqar also said: “I preferred to be de-notified in the case than to compromise on such stupid things.”

A spokesman for the interior ministry, however, expressed ignorance about the differences between the ministry and the special prosecutor.

“I did not attend the meeting in which the Benazir Bhutto murder case was discussed; therefore, I cannot comment on it,” he added.

Mr Zulfiqar served the FIA for 25 years till his retirement in 2009. After retirement, he started legal practice.

The FIA initially engaged him in the Army House attack case in which former chief of the banned TTP Baitulllah Mehsud and his associates Wali Mohammad, Ibadur Rehman, Sardar, Commander Tariq, Rehan, Ijaz, Wassem, Saad Munir and Suleman were declared absconders.

The ATC in the said case convicted Zafar Ali, Intikhab Abbasi, Abid Khan, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Kabeer and Qamar Zaman on Aug 31, 2010, and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for life for planning the suicide attack to kill the then president Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf on June 8, 2008.

The Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi bench on September 24 last year rejected their appeals.

The FIA engaged Mr Zulfiqar in the Benazir Bhutto murder case on August 9, 2009.

In this case, Baitullah Mehsud (the alleged mastermind of the attack), Ibadur Rehman, Abdullah alias Saddam, Faiz Mohammad, Ikramullah, Nasrullah and Nadir alias Qari Ismail are the proclaimed offenders.

The accused persons under the judicial custody included Mohammad Rafaqat, Hasnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Rasheed Ahmed. While then Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shahzad Haide are on bail.

On April 26, after seeking physical remand of Gen Musharraf in the Benazir murder case, Mr Zulfiqar told ATC Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman that his fellow prosecutor Chaudhry Mohammad Azhar had dropped a letter in his house excusing himself from appearing in the ATC because of the fear of a terrorist attack.

Mr Azhar in the letter also suggested to Mr Zulfiqar not to attend the court proceedings.

On March 2, Ashfaq Ahmed, a witness in the Benazir murder case, did not testify before the ATC because of the TTP threats. Mr Ahmed complained that on February 26 he received a call from Afghanistan.

The caller identified himself as a Taliban deputy chief and warned him of 'revenge’ if he testified before the ATC.

Mr Zulfiqar was also FIA special prosecutor against seven Pakistani suspects in the Mumbai attacks case.

They included the alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. In the Haj corruption case, he was arguing against former federal minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi and former director general Haj Rao Shakeel.

In the same case, he recently had moved an application for cancellation of the bail of Zain Iftikhar Sukhera, a family friend of former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The bar associations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad announced a strike on Saturday against the killing of Mr Zulfiqar.