ISLAMABAD – The former Superintendent of Police (SP)-Rawal, Khurram Shahzad who is one of the accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, was reinstated as the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Special Branch, late Monday.
Shahzad along with his colleague Saud Aziz — the former City Police Officer (CPO)-Rawalpindi was sentenced to 17 years in jail in addition to a payment of fines by an anti-terrorism court on August 31 in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case.
Following the ruling, Shahzad was detained in Adiala Jail and Aziz was arrested as well.
However, the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) subsequently suspended the sentence and issued a notification announcing the reinstatement of Shahzad as SSP Special Branch.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/court-to-announce-verdict-in-benazir-bhutto-killing-case-today-after-9-years/
It is to be noted that Shahzad was stationed as SSP Special Branch at the same time as he was sentenced, while Aziz, at present, has retired from the police force.
Both the police officers were fortunate enough to secure bails by the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court on October 6 after surety bonds worth Rs. 2 million were submitted by both the policemen.
The anti-terrorism court had punished the officers for ‘facilitating [the] commission of an offence’ as the policemen were charged for washing out the crime scene.
The police officers challenged their conviction in the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench and their pleas were heard by a divisional bench that comprised Justice Tariq Abbasi and Justice Habibullah Amir.
The officers’ counsel argued before the bench that his clients had been blamed for the entire episode whereas the five suspected terrorists were exonerated.
