Thaindian News

Islamabad, Mar 6(ANI): Police officials probing the assassination of Pakistan’s Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti have neither been able to access his cell phone nor his driver, which could help yield valuable clues.

Bhatti’s cell phone is still in the custody of his family, and the driver- Gul Sher- had gone with the casket to the slain minister’s native village to attend the burial.

“The minister’s family had not raised any suspicions over the character of their most trusted driver,” The Express Tribune quoted a police official, as saying.

However, he confirmed that there were contradictions in the statements made by the driver. “There was also difference in the statements of witnesses and the driver over the account of the incident,” he said.

“Some witnesses said three gunmen had disembarked from their vehicle to shoot at the minister while Sher maintained it was only one,” the official added.

Also, the driver had stated that he had saved his life by ducking down when the shooter fired at the windscreen of the car. This claim was also challenged by certain witnesses, who stated that Gul Sher had disembarked from Bhatti’s vehicle on seeing the gunman, before the latter had opened fire.

“There were many questions that only Sher could answer,” said an official close to the investigations, adding that that the police would question the driver on his return from Faisalabad.

The probe team also wanted the custody of the cell phone used by Bhatti, as they believe the call record could lead to certain helpful clues. “We will politely request the family for access to the cell phone when they return,” said a police official.

According to sources, the police were able to trace and recover the vehicle suspected of being the one used by the unidentified assassins of Bhatti.

Upon seeing the suspect’s sketch released by the police, a witness informed the police that a person resembling the sketch was seen sitting in a white Suzuki Mehran in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi, approximately three hours before the incident.

Sources said the car was found abandoned in the same area, but the police did not confirm the claim officially, and some officials even denied that the car was recovered.

However, a police official confirmed receiving information about a suspected car from a witness, adding that its registration number was found to be bogus. (ANI)