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KARACHI, Nov 2: Political considerations have caused the provincial police authorities to desist from constituting a new investigation team for the Karsaz probe, it has been reliably learnt.
The Sindh government has incurred serious criticism from Islamabad for its unilateral decision to lodge a separate case of the October 18 midnight attacks on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s welcome procession near Karsaz.
The FIR points fingers towards political opponents, for which the Sindh government has been asked to soften its stance on the issue.
Background interviews with senior officials and key persons in the political set-up revealed that the Pakistan People’s Party-led provincial government has now agreed to continue the Karsaz probe with the previous team of police investigators.
“The provincial government, after lodging the separate FIR, had announced to set up a new investigation team under the DIG of police investigations. But this could not materialise,” said a source privy to the recent developments.
“Actually, the Sindh government and the provincial PPP leadership were criticised for their approach on a new FIR. Since the FIR lodged could not be withdrawn, the provincial authorities have decided not to set up a new investigation team and continue with the previous one, set up under the DIG of the crime investigation department.”
Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, after lodging a new FIR (213/2008) with the Bahadurabad police station on the eve of the first anniversary of the Oct 18 bombings under Sections 324 and 427/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, had announced to set up a new investigation team to probe into the matter.
Talking to Dawn hours after the registration of the case, Dr Mirza said: “The previous team, which was investigating the case, has only established that the Karsaz blasts were suicide attacks and if needed, we will take their findings into account. But after initiating fresh investigations with a new FIR and a new police team, the earlier findings sound irrelevant.”
Earlier, the police had registered the FIR of the Oct 18 attacks targeting Ms Bhutto’s procession against unidentified culprits on the basis of a written request of the deceased leader, despite the fact that she suspected at least three persons to be behind the tragic incident.
Blow to ‘reconciliation’
Registration of the new FIR raised several questions and speculations were running high when the suspicions cited in the FIR against three persons, including former Punjab chief minister Chaudary Pervez Elahi, were seen more as a politically-motivated move and a serious blow to the government’s reconciliatory efforts mainly in the Punjab.
“The fresh case was registered in line with a court directive that suggested conversion of Ms Bhutto’s letter into an FIR,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
“In her request, she mentioned a letter she had written to [now retired] General Pervez Musharraf two days before her arrival, in which she said her life could be harmed by three persons. There is no name as such in the FIR, but proper investigation would obviously lead law enforcers to touch upon those areas which the government doesn’t want touched.”
He said almost all the members of the previous investigation team were the same and only their head was changed, when the government announce setting up of the fresh squad of investigators under the new FIR.
“But that was a symbolic move from the provincial government and a kind of message to the political opponents that it can take up the issue with new objectives and desired results,” said the official. “Since the government has been mulling over political harmony mainly in the Punjab to develop working relationships and good understanding with all political forces, the Sindh government has not been pursuing the issue as strongly as it earlier claimed.”
He said there had been no progress since the registration of the new FIR. “The previous team of investigators met only once since Oct 17 (the day when the new FIR was lodged) and reviewed the progress made so far,” he said, adding that the team had not even chalked out a proper line of action for the future course of the investigation.
