Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) has granted pre-arrest bail to former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and SP Rawal Town Khurram Shahzad against the surety bonds of Rs 100,000 in Benazir Bhutto's murder case. Both the police officers appeared before the ATC on Tuesday and filed an application for their pre-arrest bail. They assured the court that they would appear in the court, whenever they were called.
Judge of the ATC, Rana Nisar Ahmed after hearing the arguments accepted their plea and granted them bail before arrest against Rs 100,000 surety bonds, which they submitted on the spot. After approving pre-arrest bail, Saud Aziz revealed to the media that he would defend the charges levelled against him, as he has sufficient proofs to prove his innocence. "I have enough evidences to prove my innocence in the court," he added.
It is pertinent to note that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed a petition in the court that the security officer of slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto CPO Saud Aziz changed the entire security plan of election rally at the eleventh hour, which caused BB's assassination. It was also mentioned in the FIA application that SP Khurram Shahzad revealed before a court that Saud Aziz forced him to change his duty venue.
The same Anti Terrorist Court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad on December 4 for not appearing before the court. They have to appear before the court again on December 11.
Former PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a terrorist attack (firing followed by suicide bombing) outside Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving the area after addressing an election rally on December 27, 2007, wherein 26 other people were also killed. Both the officials have been charged for ordering the police to wash out the crime scene.