HYDERABAD, Jan 6: Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed on Sunday supported the demand for UN-led investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto side by side the probe being conducted by local agencies and Scotland Yard investigators.

Justice Wajih said that many pieces of evidence, which had come to fore since the first abortive attack on Benazir Bhutto on Oct 18 and the second deadly attack on Dec 27, 2007, indicated to some kind of complicity at official level.

Talking to Dawn after delivering keynote address at a dialogue on “Assassination of Benazir Bhutto: Causes, Ramifications and Challenges” at the press club organised by the Centre for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS), he said that it was difficult to point finger to possible culprits.

“Either both the provincial administrations are involved or may be something was happening at the behest of federal government,” he observed.

“There is no doubt that there has to be complicity somewhere in official circles, which needed to be determined,” he stressed while throwing into question the manner in which the two-time prime minister of the country was taken to hospital and treated.

“Doctors did not even specify the dimension of the wounds and wrote merely in the report that there was a 5cm x3cm wound. There are entry and exit points of the wounds and it is also not clear, which side of the wound has been mentioned,” he pointed out.

He criticised the government for its failure to get the post-mortem conducted. “It’s a prerequisite under criminal procedure code that you have to get an autopsy conducted under such circumstances and Pakistan government cannot absolve itself of the responsibility,” he said.

He said earlier in his address if the motive behind her killing was determined then many an official and unofficial as well as national and international or local and non-local factors would come to light. “I believe the incident has been staged deliberately,” he said.

Justice Wajih described the tragedy as a severe blow to democracy and said people had lost a great and fearless leader. The incident also proved that no leader would be able to address people as bravely as she did, he said.

He referred to Benazir Bhutto’s letter dated Oct 16 before her homecoming and an email sent to Mark Siegel, which mentioned the name of the person known to all and sundry. “These were the emotions of a dying person and she was not an ordinary woman,” he said.

He said that Benazir Bhutto was aware of threats to her life and criticised the government for showing unusual haste in washing off the crime scenes of Oct 18 blasts and Dec 27 tragedy. Although in similar cases the crime scenes had been closed for traffic outside American embassy, PIDC and Sheraton hotel, he said.

On eruption of violence in the aftermath of Ms Bhutto’s murder, he pointed out to conspicuously absent troops of army, rangers and police on the streets for 72 hours after the great tragedy and said that the government knew very well criminals might take advantage of the situation.

Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palejo said that it would be a suicidal act on part of the political parties to take part in elections. The president could even amend the constitution to allow army officials to become members of superior judiciary, he said.

National Party leader Kachkol Ali said that the establishment wanted only dummy politicians.

Woman Action Forum’s Anis Haroon said that Benazir Bhutto’s murder was a blow to people’s aspirations and dreams while Barrister Zamir Ghumro said that Benazir Bhutto was a social contact between Sindh and other provinces.