Jul 23 2010 

A FORMER top aide to murdered Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto ended up stacking shelves in a supermarket.

Sarwar Ranjha, 40, rubbed shoulders with world leaders as Bhutto's private secretary.

But he fled his homeland in 1999, the year General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a military coup, and found refuge in Scotland.

And the one-time political high-flyer got a flat in Stewarton, Ayrshire, and a job in a local supermarket.

Ranjha's life in the corridors of power was revealed this week as he appeared in court over a false passport and money-laundering scam.

Prosecutors told how he was given a fake Pakistani passport, which he used to open a bank account.

A cheque for more than £9000 was then paid into the account from England.

Bank staff spotted the scam and froze the account, and Ranjha was arrested at a Bank of Scotland branch in Kilmarnock after he complained that their cash machine had swallowed his card.

Ranjha's lawyer, Abdullah Hamid, admitted his client had struggled to adapt to life as a working man in Scotland.

He said Ranjha "played an important part in politics in Pakistan" and had been "used to a luxurious lifestyle".

But he got into £2000 of debt in Ayrshire, and joined in the money-laundering scam because he feared he would be evicted from his flat. He was promised £500 for his role in the plot but didn't get a penny.

Kilmarnock sheriff Brian Murphy told Ranjha it was a serious offence, but sentenced him to 240 hours community service after hearing he posed a low risk of reoffending.

Bhutto led Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996. She was murdered on the campaign trail in 2007.