Logo

Former premier Benazir Bhutto was killed by the impact of a suicide blast and not by a gunshot, Britain's Scotland Yard said in its probe report, backing the Pakistan government's version of the assassination.

The report, handed over to interim Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz, an executive summary of which was released by the British High Commission, also concluded that a lone attacker fired shots at Bhutto and then detonated explosives at a rally in Rawalpindi on 27th December.

"The only tenable cause for the rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effects of the bomb-blast," UK Home Office pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary was quoted in the report as saying.

"In essence, all the evidence indicates that one suspect has fired the shots before detonating an improvised explosive device. At the time of the attack this person was standing close to the rear of Ms Bhutto's vehicle," the British detectives concluded.

"The blast caused a violent collision between her head and the escape hatch area of the vehicle, causing a severe and fatal head injury," said the report, signed by Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne.

Cary also said, "in my opinion Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb-blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle."

Bhutto died of injury after head hit vehicle hatch: Yard Rezaul H Laskar

Britain's Scotland Yard today backed the Pakistan government's conclusion that former premier Benazir Bhutto died due to injuries suffered by her head hitting the escape hatch of her vehicle and not to bullet wounds.

"In my opinion, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle," a report of the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command said quoting Dr Nathaniel Cary, UK Home Office pathologist.

The report, which may come as a huge relief to the establishment headed by President Pervez Musharraf, was signed by John MacBrayne, detective superintendent, counter-terrorism command.

The Scotland Yard was roped in by President Musharraf after his government came under attack for suggesting that she died due to the head injuries suffered by the former prime minister when she ducked after a suicide bomber set off a blast after her election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on 27th December.

Under severe criticism, Musharraf also said she may have been shot.

The team said that the blast triggered by the suicide bomber "caused a violent collision between (Bhutto's) head and the escape hatch area of (her armoured) vehicle, causing a severe and fatal head injury".

The executive summary of the report released by the British High Commission said that available evidence suggests there was no gunshot injury.

The report said the task of establishing exactly what happened was complicated by the lack of an extended and detailed search of the crime scene, the absence of an autopsy, and the absence of recognised body recovery and victim identification processes.

"Nevertheless, the evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn. Within the overall objective, a particular focus has been placed on establishing the actual cause of death, and whether there were one or more attackers in the immediate vicinity of Bhutto," it said.

Considerable reliance was placed upon the X-rays taken at Rawalpindi General Hospital following Bhutto's death.

Given their importance, the X-rays have been independently verified as being of Bhutto by comparison with her dental X-rays.

Additionally, a valuable insight was gained from the accounts given by the medical staff involved in her treatment, and from those members of Bhutto's family who watched her body before her burial.

The report further said that "Bhutto's only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head.

"The UK experts all exclude this injury being an entry or exit wound as a result of gunshot. The only X-ray records, taken after her death, were of Bhutto's head", the report said.

"However, the possibility of a bullet wound to her mid or lower trunk can reasonably be excluded. This is based upon the protection afforded by the armoured vehicle in which she was traveling at the time of the attack, and the accounts of her family and hospital staff who examined her."

"The limited X-ray material, the absence of a full post mortem examination and CT scan, have meant that the UK Home Office pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary, who has been consulted in this case, is unable categorically to exclude the possibility of there being a gunshot wound to the upper trunk or neck", the report said.

"However when his findings are put alongside the accounts of those who had close contact with Ms Bhutto's body, the available evidence suggests that there was no gunshot injury.

Importantly, Cary excludes the possibility of a bullet to the neck or upper trunk as being a relevant factor in the actual cause of death, when set against the nature and extent of her head injury", it added.