NEWS

Bhutto's belongings taken into custody

By Rezaul H Laskar in Islamabad
January 03, 2008 12:45 IST

Pakistani investigators probing former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination have taken into custody her clothes, personal effects and bulletproof vehicle as part of their hunt for clues to her killers.

The police team has taken into custody the clothes she was wearing at the time of the suicide attack on her in Rawalpindi on December 27 as well as her shoes, scarf, spectacles, mobile phone and the armoured Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle.

The items had been kept at Rawalpindi General Hospital, where Bhutto had been rushed by her aides following the attack on her outside the Liaquat Bagh ground, where she had addressed an election rally.

The investigators obtained a record of calls made to and from Bhutto's cell phone before the attack, the Daily Times quoted sources as saying. They also obtained from mobile phone companies details of all calls made from within Liaquat Bagh and outside the ground on December 27, the sources said.

The sources said the left frame of Bhutto's spectacles was slightly damaged while the left glass had some scratches.

They said the investigators had drawn up the crime scene and the position of Bhutto's vehicle when she was attacked by a gunman and a suicide bomber.

The sleuths are also examining video footage and photographs of the attack that were shot privately and have surfaced since the incident.

Meanwhile, Dawn News channel aired yet another video made with a mobile phone camera that captured Bhutto's last moments from her right side. All previous footage and photographs of the incident were captured from her left side or back.

The grainy and shaky video clip shows Bhutto's vehicle leaving Liaquat Bagh before it is stopped on the road by scores of people. Bhutto then pops out from her vehicle's sun-roof to wave to her cheering supporters.

The video shows Bhutto wiping her face with a tissue moments before shots are fired and the suicide bomber detonates his explosives.

Bowing to pressure from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and other quarters, president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday announced he had sought assistance from Britain's Scotland Yard to probe her assassination. A Scotland Yard team is expected to arrive in Islamabad this week.

Rezaul H Laskar in Islamabad
Source: PTI
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