The two men, identified only as Hasnain and Rafaqat, were arrested by a special investigating team for alleged involvement in the suicide attack on Bhutto at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December 27, Geo News channel reported on Thursday.

They were arrested in Rawalpindi and were being interrogated. The channel quoted sources as claiming that the men accompanied two others  — Bilal and Ikram — who allegedly carried out the attack on Bhutto.

Hasnain and Rafaqat were described by the sources as the alleged “handlers” of the two attackers. The sources also said they had brought the attackers to Rawalpindi and had accompanied them to the site of the attack.

Mourning ends

The news of the arrest broke as Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) marked the end of 40 days of mourning for her through a ‘chehlum’ ceremony at the Bhutto family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh province.

Addressing a gathering of thousands of people, Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari vowed to complete her mission of ushering in complete democracy to Pakistan. He also pledged to avenge her assassination.