Rehman Malik pressured me to blame Musharraf for Benazir’s murder: Rao Anwar

Police officer says Benazir’s phones that were in possession of Rehman Malik could be key to case

Former Karachi police officer Rao Anwar has said that although he was pressurized to blame Parvez Musharraf for Benazir Bhutto’s assassination by former interior minister Rehman Malik, he never signed the report pertaining to the case.

Talking to a private TV channel, ex-police officer denied that he had signed the report of the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to probe the murder of former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto.

He said that Baitullah Mehsud was the main accused, and Ikram Mehsud was the in-charge of the operation. He added that Tayyub Mehsud, leader of another terrorist group, was involved in the October 18 attack on Benazir that killed 180 people.

Anwar accused Pakistan People’s Party’s leadership of lack of seriousness to solve the case as they could have arrested both suspects, Ikram and Tayyub.

Anwar said that he was being pressurized by then Interior Minister Rehman Malik to accuse the then president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf. He said that no statement was recorded from Musharraf but he [Anwar] was told to sign the JIT report.

Raising question about Rehman Malik’s role, Rao Anwar said that former interior minister should be probed in the Benazir murder case because he was in-charge of her security and he had kept her two blackberry phones in his custody for two years. Anwar said that those phones could help the investigation.