Former Senior Superintendent of Police deputed in Karachi's Malir district, Rao Anwaar, has made startling claims against former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, accusing him and the party of fomenting crime in the megalopolis.
In an interview with television host Kiran Naz on Samaa TV, Anwaar claimed that Asif Ali Zardari was the head of the criminal system operating in Sindh and ran this criminal enterprise through the police.
He said that even if PPP or Zardari may not have direct ties to the incidents of target killing or unrest, they are tied to political entities there.
Anwaar, who was arrested for committing over 400 extrajudicial police encounters and termed as someone very close to Zardari, said that from 2008 to 2013 when the PPP was in power in the province and the centre, the situation was relatively better.
He said that Qaim Ali Shah was the chief minister at the time. And while many things were underfoot, they were not conducted as openly as now.
Today, he said, all matters are conducted openly through the police, with Zardari heading the entire operation. The police, he said, were 99% corrupt.
Dilating on the alleged criminal activities, Anwaar said land grabbing was among them. He said that Zardari's close confidante and relation, Owais Muzaffar Tappi, was given an office inside the Chief Minister's House along with vast powers. He ran a gang involved in land grabbing. But when differences grew, Zardari pushed him out.
On their modus operandi, Anwaar said that registers of land records used to be ripped apart and lands were written up for people other than true owners.
If only these allegations are investigated, so much black money will be recovered that it would fix the country's economy.
The houses around Bilawal House in Karachi were forcibly evacuated, and police were used for the purpose.
No matter how many or where you give an application, your application will not be heard.
He claimed that Rs700 billion was laundered in corruption abroad in the past five years alone.
All those involved in this system have property abroad, including in Canada, the USA, Turkey, London, and Dubai. Buildings were bought in Saudi Arabia and then sublet for rental income.
This money laundering exercise has now moved to China, where the rules are relatively lax.
On money laundering, Anwaar further said that a man named 'Mushtaq' was employed by Zardari. Mushtaq's brother had been killed in the October 18, 2007, attack on slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto's convoy at Karsaz in Karachi. He used to do everything they asked, from getting food to getting medicines. He also operated fake accounts, with one such account used to pay for a cake for Bilawal House.
"In one video, I identified him as the man who had gone to drop off model Ayyan Ali at the airport when she was caught hauling $500,000 in a suitcase."
Anwaar said that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) recorded how Zain Malik had transferred Rs8 billion from Bahria Town's accounts to Mushtaq's account on behalf of Zardari. In return, the PPP government gave Bahria Town a benefit of Rs1.3 trillion. Later, a case was registered against Mushtaq when he was in Dubai. He was spirited away to London for safety, he said.
"If he was just a manager, why would he have Rs8 billion in his account and still work for you?" asked Anwaar, adding that all evidence is present.
He said that Zardari only owned Bilawal House, his parent's house located behind Avari Towers, and one house in Nawabshah. But today, he owns several homes, Anwaar claimed.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto owned one house in Larkana-Naudero, but today, that property has spread so widely that a helicopter can land in it or a very large rally can be held on it.
When asked about those appointed for the security of Benazir Bhutto, Anwaar claimed that he had his suspicions over those appointed for the slain prime minister's security. He explained that he had served for a long time in Karachi and knew many people with criminal records.
As an example, he named Shahid Shehenshah, who had a criminal record in the Golimaar police station but was standing behind Benazir for security during her rally in Rawalpindi.
Later, Anwaar said, Shehenshah was murdered.
Similarly, Anwaar claimed Bilal Sheikh also had a criminal record; he had allegedly shot a young girl named Humera Anjum as she left the Government College in Nazimabad in 1990. He was also wanted in cases of robbery and armed robbery, and Anwaar said he had personally seen Sheikh in handcuffs.
The former police officer said that during his time in jail, Zardari befriended many criminals, including the likes of Rehman Dacoit. When it came to picking Benazir's security, Anwaar claimed that Zardari hand-picked the men for the job.
In response to a question, he said that he had been nominated in the JIT to probe Benazir's murder. Anwaar, however, said that he refused to sign it because the JIT was wrong. He absolved former dictator General Pervez Musharraf, DIG Saud Aziz and SSP Khurram Shehzad of any blame. The real culprits who were caught were later released, but some police officers were nominated, he said.
"I had advised Khurram Shehzad to approach the high court and that I would testify in his favour that he was innocent and wrongly implicated in the charge sheet," Anwaar said.
On the subject of Zardari and PPP's governance, Anwaar claimed that they were not focused on curbing crime and welfare for the poor.