ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The alleged killer of the Soviet military attache, Zafar Ahmed, confessing his crime before the district and sessions judge said he had ‘been “instructed” by two Indian intelligence officers in New Delhi. He was arrested there for entering the country illegally last year.

He said an officer of the Indian Military Intelligence, Deputy Commander Rama Krishna, kept him under his custody in New Delhi for some days and advised him to kill “any man’, not woman, of the Soviet mission in Islamabad and said he would be summoned to Moscow for a trial from where he could disappear or alternatively start living there after having served the term.

Outside the court Zafar said’ a Brigadier of the Indian army who told him he was Brig Chopra, had also advised the same.

“If you kill any diplomat of the Soviet Union, it will take you to Moscow he was told’ by the two intelligence men”.

“I acted on their advice blindly. I committed the murder without knowing what the result would be. The colonel was just unfortunate it could have been any Russian”, Zafar recorded in his statement at the end of the prosecution’s case.

Zafar said in the court that an American national, Mintas lodged with him in the jail, was friendly with him.

The American embassy when asked said they had no information about any American national being in the Pindi jail. Jail authorities were not available for comments.

Zafar Ahmed said he did not want to produce any defense. He said he was the killer and wanted full justice to be done to him. “I beg for an early decision. No more talks about this murder should be done, please,” he said.

He also intimated the court that any writ petition filed in superior courts should not be considered. He, however, did not mention whether he was ready to go to gallows, if he was given capita! punishment.

Zafar was repeatedly warned by the judge that any irresponsible waffling in the statement could prove harmful but despite this Zafar was picking up words and sentences from the prosecution or from what appeared in the press. On occasions he repeated word by word.

Zafar appeared to be in a hurry. He told the judge that he was wary of the whole proceedings,

He managed to keep the poise while answering the questions from the court but later on he broke down and told the whole story minute by minute as it happened on Sept. 16 last year at 1:30 p.m.

A few days before the murder he hired a room at Lalazar hotel in Rawalpindi. He made several trips to Islamabad in hunt of a Soviet diplomat. The day he committed the crime it was a public holiday On account of tenth of Moharram. Carrying a loaded pistol he searched all markets and finding no one there he went towards the Soviet Embassy.

When he arrived at the end of the Constitution Avenue he espied a diplomat’s car coming from the University side. He recognized the CD number (62) and flagged the driver with a white piece of paper.

While the driver of Col. Fyodor Gorenkoy, accompanied by his wife Antonia Gorenkova, and their minor daughter, stopped and was reading the paper, Zafar pulled his countrymade pistol from his bag and shot at him point blank.

After shooting he threw away the pistol and ran in a frenzy towards the Foreign Office where he was caught by the police guards.

Zafar seemed to carry the notion that after the trial he would be sent to the Soviet Union and he pleaded guilty. He refused to defend himself throughout the case.

His only halfhearted defence was his reminder to the court that the widow of the deceased had expressed her doubt on Zafar being the actual killer.

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 10, 1987