The Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi on Thursday acquitted five people involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, while it sentenced two people to prison. The court also declared former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf absconder in the case, ANI reported. The court also sentenced former Rawalpindi Central Police Office Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad to 17 years each in jail, the news.com.pk reported. Both the police officials were arrested from the courtroom, according to a report from IANS. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge Asghar Ali Khan reserved the verdict on Wednesday after conducting day-to-day proceedings in the case, reported Dawn. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned prosecution evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation of the former chief of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a cleric in which he had congratulated five terrorists on carrying out the successful attack on Bhutto. [caption id=“attachment_1310511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Reuters[/caption] In November 2008, an ATC indicted Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul for killing, hatching a criminal conspiracy to kill, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terrorism. In the attack, 22 people, including the former prime minister, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving after attending an election rally. As the defence and prosecution completed their arguments on Wednesday, ATC Rawalpindi Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan reserved verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, which was announced on Thursday. In the case, Musharraf was accused of conspiring to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule. After the verdict, the court will then resume trial against Musharraf after his return to Pakistan. Bhutto, who was the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief and a two-time prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated in a suicide attack at an election campaign rally on 27 December, 2007. With inputs from agencies