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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Facilitator of terrorists killed in Urdu Bazaar handed down 10-year term

By Our Correspondent
March 19, 2019

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday sentenced a man to 10-year imprisonment after convicting him of sheltering terrorists who were killed in a shoot-out with security forces in the Urdu Bazaar neighborhood in 2017.

The ATC-X judge also directed the convict, Naseeruddin, to pay a fine of Rs1 million or else face additional imprisonment of one year. Four Jundullah militants, identified as Muhammad Zahid, Hafeezullah, Muhammad Naeem and his wife Afshan, were killed along with the couple’s infant child in a gunfight with the Rangers on April 24, 2017.

According to the prosecution, on the said day, the paramilitary force, acting on a tip-off, cordoned off a building near Urdu Bazaar where on the fourth floor the terrorists had taken refuge since the past two to three months. As the Rangers personnel entered the building, four other terrorists came in a taxi and started firing at the raiding party; however, they escaped as the Rangers returned fire.

Meanwhile, the terrorists present in the building threw a hand grenade at the soldiers when they had reached the third floor of the building. The grenade explosion as well as the fight between the terrorists and Rangers resulted in the death of one of the terrorists while a Rangers officer, three soldiers and two civilians sustained injuries.

The shoot-out continued for around seven hours after which the Rangers succeeded in entering the flat where they found four bodies, two of males and one of a female and an infant each. The terrorists had allegedly killed themselves by blowing up hand grenades.

Naseeruddin was arrested later in May as the investigators discovered that he was the person who provided the flat to the terrorists on rent. The prosecution maintained that he was also a member of the banned extremist outfit.

Contrary to the prosecution’s claim, the accused pleaded not guilty. A defence counsel argued that the prosecution had nothing incriminating against his client that could connect him with the militants. The lawyer added that neither was anything illegal recovered from the accused nor was the tenancy agreement true.

The Rangers prosecutor argued that the accused had obtained the flat on rent from a person, who was mentioned as a witness from the prosecution in the charge sheet, for the sole purpose of harbouring the terrorists.

Meanwhile, the court issued perpetual warrants of arrest against four absconding suspects, Fazal Ghani, Mansoor Ahmed, Muhammad Rafiq and Ubaidullah. The judge ruled that the case against them will be kept on dormant file until they were arrested or they surrendered before the court.