Shahbaz Gill, a domestic servant employed at the house of Shahbaz Bhatti`s mother, told Dawn that he was locking the door of the house “after seeing off sahib at the main gate” when he heard the first few shots. He ran out along with a sister of Bhatti and saw that the attack had been targeted against the minister.
When asked if the minister was accompanied by security guards, Gil said: “I really don`t know. At least, when I closed the main door there wasn`t any police vehicle around.”
Gil`s words highlighted the mystery that continued to remain unanswered for the rest of the day. Why was the minister travelling without his security guards?
It is important to note here that Bhatti had been facing threats since the recent controversy over the Blasphemy Law had blown up. Especially after Taseer`s assassination, Bhatti had said time and again that his life was in danger. This is why he was shifting to the minister`s enclave on the very day that he died because the enclave enjoyed better security.
The only and first Christian member of the federal cabinet, Bhatti had preferred till now to stay in his private residence. However, he had decided to make this move after three years because of security concerns.
In fact in a video which appeared on BBC on Wednesday, he can be seen predicting his own death. Recorded about four months ago, according to media reports, and to be broadcast in the event of his death, the video shows the minister speaking of threats from the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
“These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles,” he says.But why would a man aware of the dangers to his life be travelling alone? The answers that came to light were inadequate. According to the authorities, the minister was in the habit of leaving his security guards behind.
In a hurriedly arranged news conference at PIMS, Chief Commissioner Tariq Mehmood Pirzada and Inspector General of Police Wajid Ali Durrani were at pains to explain that the incident was not a security lapse. They claimed that the minister was provided security cover — six men from the Frontier Constabulary, five policemen as well as four guards of his own choosing from the police. These numbers were confirmed by the interior ministry.
They further added that the minister was in the habit of visiting his mother accompanied only by his personal driver. His security squad waited for him at his office-cum-residence in I-8/4.
“He directed his guards not to give him security cover whenever he visited his mother`s residence,” the police quoted his guards. Dawn
That his official staff, including the guards, was waiting for him at his office was confirmed by others including his official driver. “We got a call from the driver of the minister who told us that he (Bhatti) had been attacked so we rushed to the location minutes away from his private residence,” Salamat, the official driver told .
However, a senior police officer, who did not want to be named, said that the security guards should have been with the minister all the time. In his opinion, it was illogical that someone who feared for his life would have left his security guards behind.
Dawn has also learnt that Bhatti had unsuccessfully sought high level security and a bullet-proof car from the government.
He is said to have sent a number of letters to the interior ministry demanding security similar to that enjoyed by ministers such as Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Law Minister Babar Awan. They have four to five security vehicles in their squad.“Mr Bhatti had demanded a bullet-proof car from the government,” a close relative of the slain leader and PPP minority women wing president Dr Tasneem Kausar said.
She said the interior ministry had not responded and as a result he had hired private security guards. However, she also conceded that she had “not seen any official guards at the residence of the minister.”
A senior official at the interior ministry told on the condition of anonymity that the interior ministry had not received any such request from Bhatti. “Rather he sent some letters to the ministry, demanding fool proof security,” he added. He too claimed that the minister did not use the security guards when he went to his residence.
“Usually a head constable or an assistant sub inspector is in-charge of the security squad of a minister and such men dare not disobey the minister,” he said.
A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been formed to probe into the assassination. The police said that the sketches of the attackers had been prepared and released to the public.
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