An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday acquitted former president General Pervez Musharraf (Retd), former interior minister Aftab Sherpao and former Balochistan home minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani in the murder case of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Announcing the verdict, ATC-I judge Jan Muhammad Gohar observed that the three accused had no link to the alleged murder of the Baloch leader.
The ATC rejected the request of Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, a son of late Nawab Akbar Bugti, to order exhumation of the body of his father buried in Dera Bugti to confirm whether it was that of Nawab Bugti. The court also issued permanent arrest warrants for co-accused, including former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Balochistan governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and former deputy co-ordination officer Dera Bugti Samad Lasi for not appearing before it despite issuance of many notices.
It may be added that the case had been under trial for the last three-and-a-half years. Aftab Sherpao, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction over the judgement and said justice was upheld by the court. Veteran parliamentarian Nawab Akbar Bugti, chief of Jamhoori Watan Party, was killed in an operation in Balochistan's rugged mountains of Taratani in Kohlu district on August 26, 2006. His son Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti had nominated former President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Governor Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and others in the murder of his father as accused. Bugti's death had sparked angry protests in parts of the country. An FIR was registered under sections 302 and 304 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Musharraf and others in 2009 for their alleged involvement in Bugti's murder.
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