Pakistani police officers quizzed in Bhutto's killing

ISLAMABAD: Investigators probing the assassination of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto have recorded the statements of senior security officers among 90 police personnel who were deployed at Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh on December 27. The probe team has recorded statements of 139 people, including 90 police officers who were on duty when Bhutto was killed outside the Liaquat Bagh, the Dawn daily of Pakistan said on Saturday. An unnamed official said that handwritten statements of some senior police officers were verified by experts and handed over to the investigators. The Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO), the SSP (Operations) and some superintendents of police are among those whose statements have been recorded. According to the security plan, the overall supervision of the Pakistan People's Party rally was assigned to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Yasin Farooq, while Rawal SP Khuram Shahzad was overseeing security arrangements. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch), Rawalpindi, had been asked to sweep the area for explosives and collect intelligence. People with video cameras were also deployed. The source said at least six people were involved in the plot to assassinate Bhutto, with the suicide bomber being one of them. He said Civil Lines Circle SP Syed Ashfaq Ahmed, with call sign 'Naveed', was supervising the security team deputed for Bhutto. The investigators also received a medical report on Bhutto's brain matter, the source said. The previous report mentioned that she had open wounds on her left temporal bone from which brain matter was exuding when she was brought to the Rawalpindi General Hospital. The report did not say what had caused the wound, apparently because no autopsy had been performed.