Taseer's assassin remanded to police custody

Amid chaos and high-drama, the a ssassin of the outspoken Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was on Thursday remanded in a five-day police custody by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court, where his supporters greeted him with rose petals.

Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court accepted an application from police seeking custody of 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri, the policeman who assassinated Taseer on Tuesday for opposing the controversial blasphemy law, for five days.

Qadri was taken in an armoured car to the Rawalpindi court complex, where a large crowd of Islamist lawyers and seminary students shouted slogans in support of the assassin and showered rose petals on him. The police had initially planned to produce him in the Rawalpindi court on Thursday morning. They changed their plans after a large number of supporters gathered at the court complex.

In the wake of media reports that people feted Qadri during another court appearance yesterday, authorities wanted to hold the proceedings in a makeshift court set up in a heavily-protected building in Sector G-7 of Islamabad. However, the crowd in Rawalpindi prevented Judge Awan from travelling to Islamabad, witnesses said. But, the crowd gave an undertaking that their actions would not affect security for Qadri and the court.

The judge backed down and asked police to bring Qadri to Rawalpindi. Subsequently, Qadri was produced before the judge after a delay of about seven hours.

Qadri, who was part of Taseer's security detail, gunned down the Governor in a market in Islamabad on Tuesday. He confessed to the killing, saying he had been angered by Taseer's criticism of the blasphemy law. He was booked under the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Investigators are trying to determine whether he acted alone or was part of a wider conspiracy. 

Meanwhile, leaders of the ruling Pakistan People's Party held the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz -led government in Punjab responsible for the murder of Taseer and alleged that some elements in the opposition might have been behind the crime. Senior PPP leaders claimed that there were "political motives" behind the assassination.

However, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said it was "yet to be established" whether Taseer's assassination was a "conspiracy against the system." Noting that investigations were underway into the murder, Zardari, who was in Karachi, expressed the hope that "soon the motives behind the macabre crime and the perpetrators and planners will be exposed and punished".

An investigation team is interrogating eight personnel of the Elite Force who did not take any action when Qadri shot the governor at a very close range.

Taseer was hit by at least 26 bullets and some reports said Qadri changed the magazine of his assault rifle and continued firing.

Investigators were of the opinion that the failure of the other guards to stop Qadri as he fired three bursts had strengthened "the suspicions of a conspiracy," the Dawn newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying.

"It makes no sense that personnel who were on duty did not retaliate despite carrying active firearms. This is why the perception that the rest of the guards had some inkling about Qadri's intention is gaining strength," an unnamed official told the daily.

"Every aspect is being considered," another official said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether Qadri's colleagues were only in the know of his plan to kill Taseer or assisted him also. Sleuths are also probing Qadri's background and collecting information from his neighbours, relatives and friends following reports that he had attended several meetings and rallies organised by religious hardliners in the recent past.

Qadri often wore a green turban, which he removed only when he put on his uniform.