RAWALPINDI, Oct 29: An anti-terrorism court here on Saturday delayed the indictment of seven accused in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case for the fourth time since September.

Special Judge ATC-I Shahid Rafique deferred the indictment of Aitzaz Sherazi, Sher Zaman, Rasheed Ahmed, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat Hussain, former City Police Officer Saud Aziz and Superintendent Police Khurram Shahzad till November, because the SP and his counsel Malik Rafique could not appear before the court.

Special Public Prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali argued that the accused was deliberately using delaying tactics to prolong the trial.

He said four years had already lapsed since the assassination of the former prime minister. “Ms Bhutto was twice elected prime minister of the country and was also heading a major political party.

Due to the delaying tactics, her assassination case still remains undecided,” he added.

Mr Ali told Dawn that he had filed a petition for conducting the trial on a daily basis some three months back; adding under sub-section 7 of Section 19 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, the court was bound to hear the case on a daily basis.

He said if the accused were innocent, why they were afraid of facing the trial.

Meanwhile, the same court accepted the bail plea of three accused in the Nato containers attack case.

The court directed the accused, Ali Imran, Shujaur Rehman and Mohammad Azaz, to deposit bail bonds of Rs100, 000 each. The Nato trucks were attacked in June 2010 in the jurisdiction of the Tarnol police.