An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday declared former president Pervez Musharraf as proclaimed offender (PO) over his failure to appear before the court in Benazir Bhutto murder case. As per details, the hearing of the case was held in the anti-terrorism court no.1. The court declaring former president Pervez Musharraf as fugitive in the case directed to seize his properties and bank account.

The court also released permanent warrants for the former president over his continuous failure to appear before the court in the case. On August 31, an ATC announced verdict in the December 27, 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, acquitting the five accused. The court found Saud Aziz, who was the city police chief at the time of the assassination of Bhutto, and Khurram Shahzad, former Superintendent of Police (SP) Rawal Town in Rawalpindi, guilty of mishandling the crime scene and awarded them imprisonment of 17 years.

It also imposed a penalty of Rs 500,000 each on both the convicts and ruled that in case of non-payment of the fine they will have to undergo additional imprisonment of six months. After a decade-long trial, the court had reserved verdict in the case of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday after the counsels of the suspects concluded their arguments. The ATC was hearing the case for last nine years since Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during a public gathering at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.