Convicted in absentia for Wali Babar’s murder, Faisal Mota finally arrested

Karachi
Faisal Mehmood alias Mota, who was arrested from Muttahida Qaumi Movement headquarters Nine Zero in the wee hours of Wednesday, had been sentenced to death in absentia by an anti-terrorism court in Shikarpur for the murder of television reporter Wali Khan Babar.
Another absconder, S M Kamran alias Zeeshan, had also received a death warrant with Mota on the orders issued on March 1, 2014.
The court in its ruling had observed that Faisal Mota had been the mastermind behind the journalist’s murder while Zeeshan had been responsible for executing the crime.
The four co-accused in the case, 24-yer-old Mohammad Shahrukh, 45-year-old Faisal Mehmood, 34-year-old Tahir Naveed Shah and 40-year-old Syed Mohammad Ali Rizvi had been sentenced to life imprisonment. Their appeals are currently pending before the Sindh High Court.
Another co-accused, 44-year-old Mohammad Shakeel, had been acquitted of the charges.
The anti-terrorism court had observed that all accused had jointly and collectively committed the offence with common intention.
Babar had been shot dead on January 13, 2011, in Liaquatabad’s Super Market area. The men had been arrested from Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The other two criminals whom the Rangers announced to arrest, Nadir and Ubaid K2, were also convicted by an anti-terrorism court in May 2002 for killing a Rangers sepoy Dildar Hussain and wounding Hawaldar Mumtaz in Liaquatabad on July 21, 1998.
Ubaid K2 was a proclaimed absconder and was convicted in absentia since he had managed to spring out of jail.