The Post : New officer likely to head blasts probe

New officer likely to head blasts probe

Agence France Presse | October 24, 2007

KARACHI: The police officer heading the investigation team probing the devastating suicide blasts that targeted former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto is expected to be replaced, officials said Tuesday. The move is being considering after Benazir said she had no confidence in the current chief, senior police officer Manzoor Mughal, whom she accuses of involvement in the torture of her husband.

Benazir told a news conference on Monday that Mughal was involved in torturing her husband Asif Zardari while he was in police custody in 1999 under the government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

"The provincial authorities are considering replacing Mughal and handing over the investigation to some other senior police officer," a senior police official told in Karachi.

Sindh government's home minister Wasim Akhtar also confirmed the change was being considered. "We are considering it because Mughal is expected to go on leave, so there can be a new officer heading the investigation," Akhtar said.

The two-time former premier has vowed to stay in Pakistan and campaign for upcoming general elections despite twin blasts that tore through her homecoming parade in Karachi last Thursday, killing 139 people.

Investigators meanwhile confirmed that two suicide bombers were involved in the attacks, the worst such incident in the country's history.