Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- The security guard accused of assassinating the governor of Pakistan 's Punjab province was ordered into police custody for five days Thursday , after a court hearing on his case had to be moved several times . Muhammad Mumtaz Qadri has been hailed as a hero in some quarters for gunning down Gov . Salman Taseer , a liberal lawmaker who had spoken out against the country 's blasphemy laws , which make it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam , the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed . `` He had taken a very brave position on the blasphemy laws , '' said Taseer 's sister-in-law , Ayesha Tammy Haq , who noted that the governor had come under intense criticism from fundamentalists after suggesting that the capital punishment aspect of the law ought to be revisited . `` I think the Pakistan People 's Party will honor its commitment '' to amend the law , she said . Qadri 's hearing in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court came hours after it was originally supposed to be held , and illustrated the power of hard-liners on Pakistan 's streets to influence court proceedings . Police had planned to bring the suspect to the court in Rawalpindi early Thursday morning . But Qadri 's supporters -- conservative lawyers , madrasa students and others -- converged on the courthouse . Many cheered him for shooting Taseer , and for security reasons authorities changed plans and drove Qadri to Islamabad in an armored vehicle , planning to hold the hearing in a makeshift court in a heavily secured area of the capital . There were three layers of security at that site , and media and onlookers were kept well back from the vehicle that carried Qadri . Officials say Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan was asked to come to Islamabad to preside over the hearing . But the crowd of supporters in Rawalpindi prevented the judge from traveling to the capital , so police had to bring Qadri back to Rawalpindi to hold his hearing there . Officials say police had asked to keep Qadri in custody for 12 days , but the judge granted five . Investigators plan to continue interrogating the bodyguard . They 're trying to determine if he acted alone , or had outside help . On Wednesday , authorities said that Qadri was banned five months ago by a provincial police official from providing security to VIPs . The director inspector general of Punjab Police said the guard had extremist views and it had been determined it was unsafe for him to guard important officials , said the Pakistani president 's special political adviser , Faisal Raza Abidi . Despite that assessment , the Punjab Police employed Qadri for security this week . The warning signs about Qadri go back even further , said Rana Shahid Pervez , senior police official in Rawalpindi . Pakistani intelligence agencies had warned officials in 2004 not to use Qadri after they uncovered connections between him and the religious group Dawat-e-Islami -- a Sunni group that claims it has a closer connection to the Prophet Mohammed than other Muslims . Pervez said Qadri came from an area of Rawalpindi called Sadiq Abad , adjacent to the capital , Islamabad . He came from a poor family and his father is a laborer who built homes . Qadri joined the police force in 2002 , and was selected for the elite force course in 2008 , four years after the warning from intelligence agencies , Pervez said . Qadri was one of 468 elite force guards in the Rawalpindi Police , which randomly assigns them as escorts to VIPs and officials like Taseer . Qadri was assigned to the governor on Tuesday . He had been his security guard many times before the shooting , according to Pervez , who disputed the reported link to Dawat-e-Islami . Qadri `` killed the governor totally from his own beliefs regarding Mohammed , and no group was behind him , '' Pervez said . The shooting occurred at a market in Islamabad . Qadri confessed to assassinating Taseer because `` he did blasphemy of the Prophet Mohammed , '' Naeem Iqbal , spokesman for Islamabad police , said Tuesday . Qadri told police Taseer had described the blasphemy laws as `` the black laws . '' After the shooting , Qadri immediately surrendered to authorities , the Associated Press of Pakistan reported , citing Interior Minister Rahman Malik . Dr. Sharif Astori , a spokesman for Poly Clinic Hospital , told CNN doctors counted 26 bullets in the governor 's body . A spotlight was put on Pakistan 's controversial law in November when a Christian woman , Asia Bibi of Punjab province , was sentenced to death for blasphemy . A court found the 45-year-old woman guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with fellow Muslim field workers . An investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges against Bibi stemmed from `` religious and personal enmity '' and recommended she be released . The government also said it would review the law . Taseer said he would like to see the law `` changed in such a way that it just basically says , if you insult any prophet , no matter who he is , that 's a criminal offense , but certainly not punishable by death . '' CNN 's Nasir Habib and Nosheen Abbas contributed to this report .
The suspect finally appeared in court in 2005 after several changes of venue . He has been hailed as a hero in some quarters . Muhammad Taseer was apparently killed for opposing Pakistan 's blasphemy law . The shooting occurred at an Islamabad mosque .