Murtaza Bhutto

TWO SHOTS WERE FIRED FROM PISTOL
KARACHI, March 11, 1997: The assistant inspector general of police, Ghulam
Abbas Jafferi, head of the criminalistic division, giving his assessment of the
shooting on the vehicles of Mir Murtaza Bhutto's convoy, said it mostly came
from 7.62-bore submachine guns except for two shots which were fired from
a 9m-bore pistol.
The approximate distance of shooting on the police mobiles was from four to
10 feet, he said before a three-member tribunal of inquiry comprising a judge
of the Supreme Court, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, and Justices Amanullah
Abbasi and Dr Ghous Mohmmad of the Sindh High Court. The police witness
in his 17-page report on the scientific work done by experts of his
department, said all wounds on the bodies of Mir Murtaza and his deceased
companions had been caused by the 7.62-bore submachine gun projectiles,
but the two wounds on Ashiq Jatoi's body showed that they had been caused
by shots fired from a 9m pistol. He said the angles of firing on the police
mobile being shallow did not coincide with the positions of the vehicles of
Mir's convoy.
During questioning by Akhtar Ali G. Kazi, counsel for the government of
Sindh assisting the tribunal, the witness said there were standing orders from
the inspector general of police to visit the scene of all shootings by the
ballistic experts.
He said on the basis of the order No 134 of 1994 issued by the IG three
separate teams were working, each consisting of three officers, to assist the
scientific evidence in serious crimes and in such cases the teams had visited
thousands of places. The teams worked to collect evidence independently to
assist police investigators, and sometimes, he said, "we act independently."
On further questioning whether or not he had understood the standing order
of the IGP, he said: "I may clarify what we meant was we collect the evidence
independently to assist the investigators."
On this the tribunal chairman observed that there should be no hesitancy in
answering the questions. The witness then informed the tribunal that there
was a scientific laboratory equipped with wireless, flashes and sirens, etc, but
Murtaza Bhutto; Copyright © www.bhutto.org
484