Lahore: A provincial review board comprising judges of the Lahore High Court on Monday extended for 60 days detention of five persons acquitted by an anti-terrorism terrorism court in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder case.  The board headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan passed the order due to unavailability of Advocate General Punjab Shakilur Rehman Khan. The police produced five detainees including Rafaqat Hussain, Sher Zaman, Hasnain Gull, Abdul Rasheed and Aitzaz Shah before the board amid strict security arrangement and pleaded for their further detention.  The board earlier on Nov 28, 2017 extended their detention for 90 days.  An Anti-Terrorism Court had ordered acquittal of the five persons but the Punjab government took them into detention. Police claimed that they belonged to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). 

The trial court had declared former president retired Pervez Musharraf an absconder in the case and awarded 17-year imprisonment each to two senior police officers --Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad—for showing negligence in security arrangements which led to assassination of Ms Bhutto Dec 27, 2007 outside Liaqat Bagh of Rawalpindi.  However, the LHC later suspended their sentence.