Two TTP men get life term for carrying out explosion in Landhi in 2013

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment on two counts to two men said to be associated with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a case pertaining to a bomb blast in Karachi’s Landhi neighbourhood in 2013.

In March 2013, two persons, a 12-year-old boy among them, were killed while eight others wounded after a remote-controlled device explosive placed inside a roadside paan kiosk had gone off in Landhi’s Khurramabad area.

The ATC-V judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, convicted Inamullah, alias Mulla, and Muhammad Shafiq of involvement in the blast and handed them life sentence as Tazir for causing loss of lives under the Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The convicts were also ordered to pay Rs200,000 each as compensation to the legal heirs of the victims and in case of default, they would have to undergo one-year imprisonment.

The judge awarded them life term on a second count under the sections 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life or property) and 4 (punishment for attempt to cause explosion or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property) of the Explosive Substances Act.

Both the convicts were also sentenced to 10-year-imprisonment with a fine of Rs25,000 each for causing injuries to the victims. In case of failure to pay the fine, they will have to suffer additional imprisonment of three months.

Additionally, the judge awarded them imprisonment of ten years for spreading terror under the Section 7(i)(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and ordered them to pay a Rs25,000 fine. He said all the sentences awarded to the convicts shall run concurrently. They were remanded back to the prison along with the conviction warrant to serve out the sentences.

However, the court ordered that the case of absconding accused – Fareedullah, alias Fareed, and Zahidullah – be kept on dormant file until their arrest.

In his order, the judge observed that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against both the accused. “I would like to say that some mitigating circumstances do exit in this case, for which the accused cannot be awarded capital punishment of death,” he remarked, pointing out that at the time of the commission of alleged offence as per the prosecution evidence and material available on record, the detained accused were accompanied by their companions Zahid and Fareed, who also had a remote control in their hands and the remote control was not recovered from the possession of the accused, due to which the capital punishment could not be awarded to them.

The judge noted that the evidence brought on record was consistent and no material contradiction had come on record to disprove the prosecution versions, therefore, the prosecution had successfully proved the charge against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.

According to the prosecution, on March 18, 2013, the investigation officer received information from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) about the arrest of Inamullah and Shafiq for their alleged involvement in two other blasts.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement in the Landhi blast, after which they were arrested in that case as well. They disclosed the names of their companions who they said fled the spot along with them, and it was on their instigation that they had carried out the blast near the Rangers headquarters in Landhi No 2.

An FIR was lodged at the Landhi police station under the sections 302, 324, 427 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act read with the Section 7 (punishment for terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. Both the convicts have already been sentenced to death by a now-defunct military court for their involvement in twin blasts targeting Shia-dominated Abbas Town in 2013.