Two drug peddlers jailed for six years for encounter with police

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday awarded six-year imprisonment each to two men, said to be drug peddlers, in a case pertaining to an armed assault on police.

Imran Ahmed alias Lamba and Farhan Qureshi were found guilty of firing shots at the police with the intention to kill within the jurisdiction of the Sir Syed police station in March 2022.

The ATC-XX judge announced his judgment after recording evidence and final arguments from prosecution and defence sides. He ruled that the prosecution successfully proved its charges against both accused beyond any shadow of doubt, and handed down six years’ imprisonment to them.

The convicts were told to pay a fine of Rs20,000 each or undergo additional six-month imprisonment on default. Convict Imran was also found guilty of possessing an unlicensed pistol and was sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment along with a Rs20,000 fine.

State prosecutor Iqbal Meo argued that during a routine patrol on March 13, 2022, a police party received information about the presence of two drug peddlers at the Mohammad Shah graveyard in Sector 7-B of North Karachi.

He said that upon the police team's arrival at the scene, the suspects opened indiscriminate fire in a bid to escape but the personnel managed to arrest them.

The prosecutor pointed out that Imran was found in possession of an unlicensed 30-bore pistol with a loaded magazine and over one kilogramme of hashish and 11 grams of heroin while Farhan was found to be carrying six grams of heroin.