ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The Islamabad police have declared former president Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf ‘innocent’ in the murder of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, but have left Musharraf’s acquittal to the court.

Both Ghazi Rasheed and his mother died during the 2007 operation against the mosque.

The police have prepared an investigation report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, commonly known as a challan.

According to this challan, “the complainant in the said case, Haroon Rasheed, son of Ghazi Rasheed, was neither the eyewitness of the murder nor could he produce tangible evidence against Musharraf.”

The Aabpara police submitted the report before additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Wajid Ali on Wednesday during the hearing of a post-arrest bail petition filed by Gen Musharraf.

The police have placed Mr Musharraf in Column 2 of the incomplete challan, and have thus put the former army chief at the mercy of the court.

However, they maintained that there was no evidence or any eyewitness against the accused.

According to Inspector General (retired) Saleemullah Khan Advocate, the police place an accused in Column 2 if they believe the suspect is innocent but do not want to discharge him on their own.

He said: “The former army chief, being placed in Column 2, is not guilty according to the police. He can not only get a bail but is also entitled to file a petition for his acquittal in the murder case.”

Similarly, when Ilyas Siddiqui, Gen Musharraf’s counsel, was contacted, he said the Ghazi Rasheed murder case lacked substantial evidence.

“Now, it is up to the judge to decide Mr Musharraf’s fate,” he added.

The counsel maintained that an accused can apply for acquittal if he is placed in Column 2 and in most cases the court acquits such a person.

It may be mentioned here that during the blasphemy case in which a minor Christian girl was nominated as an accused, the police had initially placed her in Column 3. This column is reserved for a person who the police believe is guilty.

However, her name was later moved to Column 2 after she was found innocent, and the court subsequently acquitted her in the blasphemy case.

Similarly, in July this year, the Airport police had declared Imtiaz Ahmed alias Taji Khokhar innocent in the murder of a woman and had moved his name from Column 3 to Column 2.

Taji was likely to get acquitted in the case but the anti-corruption establishment of Punjab arrested SHO Aslam Aziz Niazi for tampering with the record through which the accused had been cleared.

During the hearing of Mr Musharraf’s bail plea on Wednesday, Ilyas Siddiqui adopted before the court that the Lal Masjid clerics and students had been involved in abducting government officials and foreigners prior to the operation.

He said the district administration had requisitioned the army after it failed to resolve the issue through negotiations.

He claimed that his client, Mr Musharraf, had not issued any directive to launch the operation against the mosque.

On the other hand, Tariq Asad, the counsel of the complainant, Ghazi Rasheed, alleged that Gen Musharraf was the ‘mastermind’ of the said operation.

He praised the role of Lal Masjid clerics and claimed that they were rendering a great service to the society.

Tariq Asad maintained that the residents of Islamabad were getting speedy justice from the informal courts established by the clerics who were passing orders in accordance with Islamic injunctions.

He alleged that Musharraf, being responsible for the Lal Masjid operation, was not entitled to the bail and requested the court to dismiss the bail plea.

ADSJ Wajid Ali reserved the judgment on the bail petition after the counsels of the complainant and petitioner concluded their arguments. The court would announce the verdict on Friday.

The challan filed against Gen Musharraf also narrated a brief history of the Lal Masjid operation.

It maintained that prior to the operation, Maulana Abdul Aziz (the Khateeb of Lal Masjid) and his brother Ghazi Rasheed were facing 31 cases in the police stations of Aabpara, Kohsar, Margalla and Bhara Kahu.

It said that during the military operation 10 army men, including Lt-Col Haroonul Islam and an official of Rangers, were killed in addition to civilians.