Islamabad: Pakistan's Punjab province governor Salman Taseer's assassin continued to be deployed in security squad of high-profile people, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, despite being declared a 'security risk' for such assignments six years ago, a report here said.
Governor Taseer, a vocal critic of Islamist militancy in Pakistan, was shot dead in a market in Islamabad Jan 4 by Malik Mumtaz Qadri, one of Taseer's guards who said he killed the governor for opposing the country's blasphemy law which he said was anti-Islamic.
According to Pakistani daily The News, Qadri performed a total of 509 VIP and VVIP duties since he was declared a security risk for these tasks in 2004, said a report compiled by intelligence agencies.
The report said that he performed a security duty with a foreign delegation as well on two occasions in 2010. He was many times assigned duties with almost all the prominent politicians, including President Zardari.
Qadri also remained in the security convoy of the chief justice of Pakistan, even after he was declared unfit for these duties.
The other politicians with whom Qadri performed guard duties included Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. He performed all these security duties from April 24, 2008, to Jan 4, 2011.
The report reveals that Qadri was also member of a team for raids conducted by Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) against terrorist outfits in 2008.
Qadri was deployed as personal security guard of Governor Taseer for four times - April 15, 2010, May 26, 2010, Sep 3, 2010, and Jan 4, 2011, it said.
Qadri has been facing charges of terrorism and murder after he surrendered to the authorities. During investigation, Qadri said he had informed the other guards about his intentions.