Pakistan’s Musharraf Arrested In Baluchistan Over Akbar Bugti Killing Case

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was formally arrested on Thursday in Baluchistan province and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days for his involvement in the killing of Baluch leader Akbar Bugti.

Musharraf, who was arrested by a crime branch team of the Baluch police force, will remain at his Chak Shahzad farm house for the duration of the remand, Press Trust of India reported.

Bugti was killed in August 2006 during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999.

The death of Bugti, a nationalist leader who headed an armed insurgency seeking provincial autonomy and a greater chunk of profits from regional natural resources, prompted protests in Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan in the north and Iran in the south.

Musharraf, who left the country in 2008 and had been living a quiet life of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, returned to Pakistan in March to lead his party in the country's general elections held in May.

However, he was barred by a court order from contesting in elections for the rest of his life, and is also facing charges related to the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the declaration of a state of emergency in 2007.

Musharraf is on Pakistan’s exit control list, which bars him from leaving the country.