Man jailed for 11 years in encounter, illegal arms cases

An anti-terrorism court has sentenced a man to 11 years in prison in two cases pertaining to an encounter with police, terrorism and possession of illegal arms.

The ATC-XX judge found Amjad Ali guilty of attacking police officials with an intention to kill them with his unlicensed 9mm pistol and causing terror near Lyari Express on April 8. He announced his order after recording evidence and final arguments from both defence and prosecution sides.

The judge ruled that the prosecution successfully proved the charges against the convict. He directed the convict to pay a collective fine of Rs40,000, and in case of default, he would have to undergo additional imprisonment of one year.

State prosecutor Iqbal Meo Rajput argued that the accused was involved in the armed attack on police officials, endangering their lives and deterring them from performing their duties. He added the complainant as well as all the witnesses fully supported the prosecution case; therefore, the accused was liable to be punished according to the law.

On the other hand, defence counsel Hasmat Khalid claimed that his client was innocent and had been framed in the cases. He said that the alleged recovered pistol was foisted on the accused in order to strengthen the prosecution case and pleaded with the judge to exonerate him from all the charges.

On April 8, the accused riding a motorcycle had allegedly fired shots at a patrolling police party after he was singlled to stop near the Lyari Expressway, according to the prosecution. He suffered injuries after the cops returned fire and was subsequently taken into custody. A 9mm pistol along with live bullets was seized from his possession.