KARACHI, Jan 10: Senior police officers investigating the October 18 attack on Benazir Bhutto’s welcome procession, who were asked to fly to Rawalpindi to assist inquiries into the Liaquat Bagh tragedy, have held up their visit after the police authorities revised their plans expecting Scotland Yard detectives to visit Karachi to trace the links between the two attempts on the former prime minister’s life.
Sources within the police department and senior officials agreed with the notion that the British detectives were likely to visit Karachi, which witnessed the first attempt on Ms Bhutto’s life hours after she landed in Pakistan ending nearly eight years of self-exile.
“The officers’ team, which has been investigating the Oct 18 carnage, was due to leave for Rawalpindi a couple of days after the Dec 27 incident to assist the police officials there,” confirmed a source close to the Sindh police high-ups.“But later, when it was announced that the Scotland Yard team would investigate the matter independently, the team received a new advisory from the high-ups about the cancellation of plans. Much speculation can be made on the latest move, but at the same time there are strong chances that the foreign investigators might visit Karachi themselves,” he added.
He said that although the Sindh police had not received any signal from the federal authorities, they were expecting the foreign detectives to visit Karachi to witness the progress of the Oct 18 inquiry and examine evidence gathered by the local investigators.
A senior police official with experience in investigating high-profile assassinations also said that the Scotland Yard team would be willing to visit Karachi after wrapping up the first phase of the investigations.
“As far as I know they may establish the cause of death and then move to trace the reasons and the people behind the incident,” he said. “In such a situation, they would definitely need to know the recent history of threats to Ms Bhutto’s life and this may bring them to Karachi.”
The slain leader survived two midnight bomb attacks on her convoy near Karsaz, which killed some 150 people and injured more than 400. The Pakistan People’s Party leadership insists the bombs were planted in a nearby parked vehicle, while the police authorities claim it was a suicide attack.
The local investigators have not made any progress in the investigations but they still expect queries from the British experts about the incident. However, some of them believe a comprehensive briefing from the police authorities on the details of the Oct 18 incident investigations so far can also meet the purpose.
“It also depends on the mandate and target of the investigation team (Scotland Yard),” said another official on condition of anonymity. “If they are completely free to conduct their investigation, which we believe so, they may like to visit Karachi rather than depend on the police briefing.”
‘Simple logic’
He said stopping the senior police officers from visiting Rawalpindi after the initial directives was also indicative of possible assistance they could provide to the foreign detectives.
“It’s simple logic,” said the official. “If anyone’s life is under threat and finally he or she loses it, the investigations always involve the level of threats and the attempts on his or her life that were made until the culprits achieved their target.”The Sindh government has also set up a judicial inquiry tribunal for the Oct 18 investigations headed by a retired judge of the Sindh High Court. The tribunal has questioned several police officers during the past few hearings, which suggested no VIP security was provided to the former prime minister on Oct 18 despite serious threats and warnings issued by the federal and provincial governments.