FAISALABAD, Nov 1: Ex-MPA Maj Raja Sajjad Akbar (retired), one of the main accused involved in a bid to overthrow the ZA Bhutto government in 1973, died of heart failure on Thursday night.

Along with ex-MNA Raja Nadir Pervaiz, Maj Muhammad Ishtiaq and two other officers, Raja Akbar was arrested in 1973 for conspiring to overthrow the Bhutto government.

The case was tried in a military court presided over by the late Gen Ziaul Haq. Sajjad Akbar and other accused military officers were convicted to 14 years rigorous imprisonment. However, Gen Zia, after removing ZA Bhutto in 1977, ordered the release of all of the convicts.

Maj Sajjad contested 1988 elections as a PPP nominee and was elected to the Punjab Assembly. He was the son-in-law of Barrister Sher Muhammad and brother-in-law of MPA-elect Raja Riaz Ahmad. Sajjad Akbar was laid to rest in Qaim Saeen graveyard on Friday.

According to APP, Sajjad Akbar died in mysterious circumstances.

Azra, the second wife of Akbar, alleged her husband had been abducted by his relatives and the sons from the first wife. She feared they would give him some poison.

According to a press release issued on behalf of Raja Riaz, Sajjad was taken to Lahore in precarious condition where he died of a cardiac arrest.

His autopsy was conducted at the Allied Hospital, but the post-mortem report was not made public.