Man handed down death penalty, two others life imprisonment in murder case

An anti-terrorism court on Thursday handed down death sentence to a man and life imprisonment to two others in a case pertaining to the murder of an intelligence agency official.

Muhammad Ali, Younis Khan and Noman, alias Kabari, were convicted for the murder of Tanveerul Hasan near the AO Clinic in Nazimabad in November last year.

The ATC-XIII judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his order after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides. He ruled that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing its case against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.

The judge awarded death sentence to Ali on two counts under the Section 302-B (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7(a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

"He shall be hanged by his neck till he is dead," the court ruled and ordered that his movable or immoveable property also be forfeited to the state.

Co-accused Noman and Younis were awarded life term on two counts for the same murder and terrorism charges as they "shared common object" in the commissioning of the crime. "Their property also be forfeited to the state," the judge ordered.

The court also ordered the convicts to pay Rs500,000 each as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased and a Rs300,000 fine. In case of default, they would have to undergo an additional one-year imprisonment.

Ali and Noman were also convicted of possession of illicit arms and awarded seven-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs20,000 each.

The judge said all the sentences awarded to the accused shall run concurrently with the benefit of the Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) given to the accused, under which the period of detention since their arrest shall be counted in their prison term. However, the death penalty shall be subject to confirmation by the Sindh High Court.

According to the prosecution, the complainant, Qasim Ali, stated that on November 12, 2023, he and his colleagues were on duty at a bus terminal opposite AO Clinic when three men on a motorcycle turned up there with the intention of mugging. One of them got off and opened fire, causing fatal injuries to Hasan.

The prosecution stated that the accused fired shots when the officer put up resistance to their robbery bid, adding that the accused also had previous criminal record.

On the other hand, defence counsel Jawed Ahmed Rajput contended that his clients were innocent as they had nothing to do with the alleged commissioning of the offence. He said the crime weapon was recovered after delay and that the accused persons' identity was also revealed to the eyewitness before their identification parade. He, therefore, pleaded with the judge to acquit the accused.

An FIR was lodged at the Nazimabad police station under the sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with the Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.