Murtaza Bhutto

Q: Was the panic unusual?
A: Yes.
Q: What photographs did you take on the scene?
A: I took the photograph of a jeep with an injured man sitting near it on the
road. I saw another body lying nearby and other vehicles, too, were there.
Q: Do you have those pictures?
A: The police may be having them, because the camera was seized. Two
policemen had been deployed there and their main job was to obstruct the
newsmen from performing their duties and they were aiming their guns at
them. In a few seconds I had taken some 8-10 pictures.
The witness submitted the printouts of the pictures before the tribunal,
comprising Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, judge of the SC; Justice Amanullah
Abbasi and Justice Dr Ghous Mohammad. He said whenever he flashed his
gun, the police became alert. When the camera first clicked the police did not
react and when it clicked for the second time, I heard a voice, saying "who are
they, get hold of them," and the utterances were in abusive language. "After
my camera was seized by one of the two policemen, they also took my bag
containing films, lenses and batteries which were later returned to me," the
witness said.
I sent for another camera, which came immediately and I lost all the pictures
taken earlier along with the camera. Another video film maker arrived and
while he was approaching the scene, I shouted at him and warned him to
beware of the police because they had already seized cameras of other
photographers.
Q: What happened when your cameras were seized by the police?
A: I contacted the police and the AFP bureau chief in Karachi also contacted
the SP (investigation and inquiries), Shukaib Qureshi, and he had called for a
report which was submitted in his office. Later, I contacted the SP but he was
not available, when I contacted again, I got the same reply, and on the third
occasion, I was told that he had gone on leave. The second witness examined
was Kamran Mansur, 32, police reporter of an English daily, The News, who
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