KARACHI, Jan 24: The five-member French team visiting the metropolis to probe into the Sheraton suicide bombing case has reportedly expressed indignation over the investigation carried out by the police.
Well-placed sources in the police department told Dawn that high-ranking police officials briefed the team about the progress in the case and arrests of two suspects.
The French team, the sources said, wanted to see the suspects and record their statements, but the local investigators insisted that the team rely upon the presentation given by the local investigators.
The police officials contended that Asif had confessed to being involved in the case and his statement had been recorded in the presence of a magistrate.
Inspector General of Sindh Syed Kamal Shah disclosed the arrest of Asif Zaheer on Dec 15, when he said:
“The investigation police raided a godown in Kathiawar Society on Ameer Khusro Road in the Tipu Sultan police limits on Dec 14 and arrested three suspects— Asif Zaheer, Sohail Noor, and Mohammad Yusuf. The police recovered a Volkswagen car (A-2951), 250 bags of ammonium nitrate, grinders, silver powder, chemicals and detonators used in bombing. He had claimed that 10 kilograms of explosive were fixed in the car when the police raided and a registration book of the Toyota Corolla car used in the Sheraton suicide bombing on May 8 last year was recovered from Asif Zaheer, which showed his involvement in the case.
Later, Rizwan alias Bashir was arrested on the lead given by the detained suspect Asif Zaheer in the same case.
In the Sheraton bombing 11 Frenchmen and three Pakistanis were killed. Some of the investigators expressing conflicting views said the godown from where a recovery of 250 bags was shown did not have the capacity to store such a large quantity of bags. It was nothing but a small shop.
They said the police did not have material evidence against the suspects and the they were only depending upon the statement given by the suspect Asif Zaheer. The statement could be under duress and the investigator should corroborate it with the material or circumstantial evidence, they added.
People of the Kathiawar Society said they were shocked to hear that the suspects were carrying out such activities in the area. They said that on Eid day on Dec 6 the police broke the locks and pulled up the shutters of the shop. They again reached the place in the morning and showed the recovery of urea bags and arrests of the suspects.
The sources said the car (A-2951) which was shown as recovered was not stolen or snatched. The police claimed the real owner of the car was not Asif Zaheer but someone else who was neither a suspect nor a witness in the case.
The sources also claimed that the inventory of the recovery from the suspects showed 250 bags, but seven bags of fertilizers had gone missing from the police custody and no notice had so far been taken of this.