BB murder: ATC adjourns hearing as prosecutor fails to appear

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi anti-terrorist court on Saturday adjourned the Benazir Bhutto murder case to March 22 after Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry failed to appear before it on account of security concerns, DawnNews reported. The case was heard today by ATC judge Pervez Joya within the premises of the Adiyala prison. During the hearing, former City Police Officer (CPO) of Rawalpindi Saud Aziz, former SP Rawal Town Khurram Shahzad and Malik Safdar Javed Advocate appeared before the judge. The hearing was however adjourned on account of the special prosecutor’s absence. Azhar, who took over as special prosecutor in the case just last year, assumed the position after his predecessor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was shot dead in Islamabad’s G-9 area in May 2013. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007 when Pervez Musharraf was president. She was killed shortly after addressing an election campaign rally in the city. Last year in August, Musharraf was indicted on three counts over Benazir’s murder. Others accused in the case include Aziz, Shahzad, Sher Zaman and Abdul Rasheed.