Man sentenced to death for sectarian murder of two religious scholars in 2016

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday sentenced a man to four counts of death and handed life imprisonment to his accomplice for the murders of two religious scholars in 2016.

Syed Mohsin Hussain alias Talha alias Pagal and Zainul Abideen alias Zain Sunny were found guilty of killing Mufti Ghulam Akbar, the principal of Iqra Babul Atfal Islamic School, and Mufti Kamran Hussain at the seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on August 23, 2016 and causing terrorism.

The ATC-VI judge, who conducted the trial at the judicial complex inside the central jail, awarded Syed Mohsin the death penalty on four counts -- two for committing the double murder and two for acts of terrorism.

The capital punishment is subject to confirmation by the Sindh High Court. The judge awarded rigorous imprisonment for life on four counts to accused Zainul Abideen for his "participation" in the murders and acts of terrorism.

Both the convicts were ordered to pay Rs4 million as compensation to the legal heirs of the victims or undergo additional imprisonment on default. However, the judge acquitted co-accused Syed Muhammad Abbas Hussain alias Aashir alias Hamza and Syed Abbas Hussain Jafferi alias Chotu of the murder charge.

He awarded five-year imprisonment to Mohsin, Zainul Abideen and Syed Muhammad Abbas with a Rs50,000 fine each in separate cases pertaining to possession of unlicensed weapons. The court put the main case against two absconding accused -- Syed Aamir Hussai Rizvi alias Babar alias Irfan and Syed Faizyab Ali alias Sheeraz -- on the dormant file till their arrest.

"In the present case both the deceased namely Mufti Ghulam Akbar (Principal of Iqra Babul Atfal Islamic School) and Mufti Kamran Hussain were religious persons," noted the judge. "The murders were committed in daylight in the city of Karachi in a school/madressah. The incident create[d] a sense of fear and insecurity in the society."

He observed that the accused had no enmity with the victims as their design appeared to create a sense of fear and insecurity in society, adding that both the victims were targeted in sectarian killing as they belonged to Sipah-e-Sahaba.

According to the prosecution, on August 23, 2016, the accused, armed with deadly weapons, arrived at Iqra Babul Atfal Islamic School in Block 6 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and two of them entered the office of Principal Ghulam Akbar and shot him as well as Mufti Kamran Hussain, leaving them injured. Both the victims later succumbed to their injuries during treatment, it said, adding that the incident caused fear and terror among the students of the seminary.

The prosecutor stated that there was sufficient evidence to link the accused with the commission of the offence, adding that the prosecution had supported the case through ocular evidence in the shape of testimony of complainant Hamadullah, a teacher at the seminary, and other eyewitness Muhammad Riaz.

In their statement under Section 342 of the criminal procedure code, the accused denied the prosecution charges and claimed that they were falsely implicated in the case. A murder FIR and three separate arms cases were lodged against the accused by the Counter-Terrorism Department.