Committe to probe BB assisnation crime scene hosing

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Hosing down Benazir murder scene​

Sunday, April 25, 2010
PM forms body to probe ex-MI chief, others Cabinet secretary, vice chief of general staff, additional chief secretary (Home), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, to be committee members

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted a three-member committee with a one-point mandate: to investigate the crucial issue of immediate hosing down of the crime scene of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, which led to the destruction of all critical evidence.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has nominated Cabinet Secretary Abdul Rauf as head of the committee while Vice Chief of General Staff Major General Sajjad Ghani and Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Fayyaz Toru would be its members.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within seven days to the prime minister.

A spokesman for the prime minister when contacted for comments regarding sending the report to the chief of the Army Staff said that it would be decided after the completion of the report. “It would be dealt with later. The first thing is the conclusion of the report and presenting it before the prime minister within seven working days,” he said.

The decision to constitute the high-level committee, comprising top military and civil administration functionaries, was taken following the release of the UN commission’s report on the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on April 15 this year.

The report pointed finger at the ex-Military Intelligence chief Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz, for ordering the then Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO), Saud Aziz, to hose down the scene of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination at Liaquat Bagh. Maj-Gen Nadeem, currently serving as the Log Area Commander in Gujranwala after his transfer from the MI some time back, was believed to be extremely close to Pervez Musharraf and was reputed to be his ‘key adviser’ on all national issues.

The report says: “Sources informed the commission that CPO Saud Aziz did not act independently in deciding to hose down the crime scene. One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that CPO Saud Aziz had confided in him that he had received a call from the Army Headquarters instructing him to order the hosing down of the crime scene.

Another source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the CPO was ordered to hose down the scene by Major General Nadeem Ijaz Ahmad, the then Director General of MI. Others, including three police officials, told the Commission that CPO Saud Aziz did not act independently and that “everyone knows” who ordered the hosing down.

However, they were not willing to state on the record what it is that “everyone knows”. This is one of the many occasions during the commission’s inquiry when individuals, including government officials, expressed fear or hesitation to speak openly.

Fate of the former MI chief would be decided on the ground of the findings and recommendations of the joint committee.

The sources at the relevant corners told The News that the committee had been given the mandate to interrogate Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz and other relevant officers of the intelligence agency. The committee would record statements of the police officials responsible for the security of Benazir Bhutto and the personnel of fire fighting unit, who hosed down the crime scene.