Three jailed for encounter with police, unlicensed weapons

An anti-terrorism court has awarded a collective sentence of 26 years imprisonment to three men in cases pertaining to an encounter with police and possession of illicit arms.

Azam Ali, Ghulam Shabbir, and Hamid Ali were found guilty of firing on police with intent to kill, injuring a cop and creating sense of fear within the jurisdiction of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station in May last year.

The ATC-II judge, who announced his order after recording evidence and final arguments from both defence and prosecution sides, ruled that the prosecution successfully proved its charges against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.

He also ordered the convicts to pay a collective fine of Rs15,000 each or undergo additional one-year imprisonment. They were further told to jointly pay Rs2.2 million as compensation to Constable Syed Atif Shah.

“The present accused had used serious violence by firing on the police party and deterred them in the performance of official duty, and as a result, one police official received serious injury,” the judge noted.

“Furthermore, the same incident had occurred at a public place. Hence, the present act of accused persons had created sense of fear, panic, terror and insecurity among the people of the area as well as in the society.”

The convicts have been remanded back to prison with conviction warrants to serve out the sentences that shall concurrently.

State prosecutor Parwez Ghumro contended that the three accused opened fire on a police party with intention to kill on University Road, on May 16, 2023, as a result of which Constable Atif Shah suffered firearm injury. Three 30-bore pistols were seized from the possession of the accused, he added.