Six given life sentences for JUI-F leader's murder

SUKKUR: Six convicts have been handed double life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sukkur on Friday in the case pertaining to murder of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Khalid Mehmood Soomro.

The accused were imprisoned for seven years over illegal possession of weapons as well and fined over Rs1 million apiece for their felonies.

Judge Abdul Rehman Qazi announced the decision in a short verdict at Sukkur Central Jail, where tight security was in place. The court had reserved its decision on December 13 following extensive proceedings involving over 450 hearings and testimony from 17 witnesses.

The convicts, identified as Hanif Bhutto, Sarang Totani, Mushtaq Mehr, Darya Khan Jamali, Altaf Jamali, and Latif Jamali, were accused of killing Soomro on November 29, 2014.

They have been in custody since December 2014.

Family members of the victim, who was also a former senator, including Rashid Mehmood Soomro and local JUI-F leaders, were present in court during the verdict.

The convicts should have been given the death penalty, said Rashid, the deceased JUI-F leader's son. "We will now knock on the high court's doors," he vowed.

Doctor Soomro, who was the secretary general of the party at that time, was offering his morning prayers when unidentified gunmen entered the mosque and shot him dead.