.:: SAMAA - Suspects in Murtaza murder case acquitted

Staff Report

KARACHI: All 19 suspects in Murtaza Bhutto murder case have been acquitted by a lower court Saturday. Additional and Session Judge, East has said that the decision has been taken in the light of evidence.

The case was heard in the court of Additional and Session Judge, East Aftab Ahmed Khan. In the decision, Judge said that according to evidence all the police officials nominated in the case were present at the spot but it is not clear that who was involved in the murder of Murtaza Bhutto and his escorts.

Murtaza Bhutto and his seven escorts were killed in an alleged police encounter on September 20, 1996. The case was registered by Noor Mohammad on May 19, 1997 at Clifton police station.

In the case, 59 witnesses and 22 suspects were nominated. Later, only 19 nominated suspects were left due to chief minister Sindh Abdullah Shah’s and Zeeshan Kazmi’s deaths and Asif Zardari acquittal from the court.

The suspects included former director Intelligence Bureau Shoaib Suddle and a number of police officials, including Wajid Durrani, Haq Nawaz Sayal, Faisal Hafeez, Roy Tahir, Agha Jameel, Shabeer Ahmed Qaim Khani, Ghulam Mustafa, Zolfiqar Ahmed and Zafar IQbal. The suspects were charged under section 120, 302, and 324.

The lawyer of Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) Umar Syal has expressed he dissatisfaction over the decision. SAMAA