Four get life term in murder case of PTI leader in Haripur

HARIPUR: A local court here on Saturday awarded life term to four out of 11 accused in the double murder case of PTI’s provincial deputy secretary general, Tahir Iqbal, and his friend.

The court also declared seven others, including principal accused former MPA Faisal Zaman, as proclaimed offenders.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge IV, Ijaz Younas, announced the judgement after completion of arguments and evidence in the case. According to the court, the four accused, Sher Ghazi, Rehmatullah, Sher Ali and Farmanullah, were found guilty of the offense of abetting and hatching conspiracy for the murder of Tahir Iqbal and Sardar Gul Nawaz.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on each of the four convicts to be paid as compensation to the legal heirs of both deceased u/s 544-A CrPC and in case of default the convicts would undergo six months simple imprisonment.

The court also declared the seven absconding accused, including former MPA from Haripur Faisal Zaman, Raza Muhammad, Alam Zeb, Azizur Rehman, Mohmmad Zohaib, Naqib and Tanveer Ahmed, as proclaimed offenders.

The former MPA from PK 42, Haripur, Faisal Zaman was under arrest in the same case when he fled from the MPA hostel of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Peshawar on April 23, 2022. The room of the former MPA was declared as a sub-jail following his shifting from Abbottabad jail to attend the session of the KP assembly. He was still at large and could not be arrested.

Malik Tahir Iqbal was assassinated along with his friend and former councillor Sardar Gul Nawaz on September 13, 2020. They were on the way back to Ghazi from Kotehra village after offering Fateha for the departed soul of one of their supporters when they came under attack.

Meanwhile, Adeel Iqbal, the younger brother of assassinated PTI’s leader Malik Tahir Iqbal, announced to move the high court against the court judgement seeking harsher punishment for the convicted four accused. He was talking to reporters after the court verdict. He was accompanied by his counsel, Allah Yar Khan Tareen Advocate, and his family members.

To a question, he said that the convicted persons had, through confessional statements before the court of judicial magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC, had stated that they were involved in the murder of Tahir Iqbal and Gul Nawaz at the instigation of MPA Faisal Zaman.