Bugti's son questions belongings displayed by Govt

ISLAMABAD: After the controversial burial of tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti by Pakistani authorities, his son has said that a wrist watch, ring and glasses displayed by the officials as personal belongings of the slain rebel leader were not that of his father's, prompting government to offer to conduct a DNA test.

Bugti's son Jamil Bugti also discounted media reports that a succession battle brewed in the family following the rebel leader's death in an Army operation in Balochsitan, saying that the family was united.

Abdul Samad Lasi, District Coordination Officer (DCO) of Dera Bugti, the native place of the rebel leader where he was buried by authorities in the absence of his family six days after he was killed, displayed a pair of glasses, wrist watch and ring after the funeral on Friday. He claimed that they were recovered from Bugti's body, which was retrieved from his collapsed cave hideout.

Jamil questioned Lasi's claims, saying "you can confirm it from anyone who knew him. My father never wore a ring" while the glasses that were displayed looked suspicious.

"The glasses shown on TV were gleaming. Who would believe that they belonged to the Nawab? If my father was killed by being crushed under the rubble in a cave, how could his glasses not even get damaged or scratched?" he was quoted as asking by 'Daily Times'.

"We still can't believe that the body buried in Dera Bugti on Friday was that of my father. If it were his body, then why wasn't anyone, including the media, shown the Nawab's face," he said.