It was the afternoon of August 17, and I was back in my apartment in the [Federal Investigation Agency Training] school, trying to take a nap before the evening games when my bedside official phone rang. It was the DG’s [Director-General’s] private secretary, and he sounded disturbed. “Sir, an army C-130 aircraft carrying Gen Ziaul Haq has crashed near Bahawalpur. DG sahib wants a meeting in his office at 9pm later tonight with you and some directors at headquarters in attendance.”
That was shocking news. The mighty Gen Zia had perished along with the US Ambassador Arnold Raphael and 29 other passengers who took off in the C-130 aircraft after a US-sponsored tank display at Bahawalpur. Was it an accident or sabotage? That question was being discussed instantly in the media all over the world.
A grim-faced DG held a meeting of four officers in his camp office at 9pm. He had been in touch with interior secretary S.K. Mahmud and some officials from the presidency. Someone from the US embassy had also alerted him about the imminent arrival of an FBI probe team since a high-profile US diplomat had died in the crash. The FBI always requested the FIA for facilitation and assistance. Interpol was offering to fly in a highly technical investigative team. What was to be done in the next 24 hours?
The director of the Central Zone at Lahore, Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, was tasked with coordinating with the Punjab Police and obtaining all possible information that would be required to initiate a formal inquiry by the FIA or any other joint investigation team to be created by the federal government. Discussion started on the possible causes of the crash in which so many senior army commanders had been killed.
