Eight condemned prisoners hanged in Punjab jails

LAHORE/FAISALABAD: Eight more death row prisoners were hanged in different prisons of Punjab on Tuesday.A death row prisoner was executed at Central Jail, Kot Lakhpat amid tight security on Tuesday morning.
The dead body was handed over to the convict’s family after completing legal formalities. He has been identified as Mukhtar. He had killed a man in 2004 in the limits of Kot Lakhpat Jail. The president had rejected his appeal for clemency. A meeting was arranged with his family members before the hanging.
Two condemned prisoners were hanged in the Central Jail. They are Muhammad Younis and Muhammad Asghar. Muhammad Younis of Chak 272/GB, Jaranwala, had shot dead his rivals Amanat Ali, Farzana Bibi and Saira Bibi in 2000. The then Jaranwala additional district and sessions judge had awarded him death sentence on three counts on December 28, 2004. Asghar of Layyah had murdered his nephew over an engagement issue.
BAHAWALPUR: Two condemned prisoners were hanged in the New Central Jail. They are Ghulam Rasool of Chak 327/HR and Muhammad Asghar of Chak 47/3-R, of Haroonabad. Ghulam Rasool had murdered three people over a family dispute on January 12, 1999. The then Bahawalnagar district and sessions judge had awarded him death sentence. A few days ago, Bahawalnagar District and Sessions Judge Nisar Ahmad issued his black warrant after rejection of his all appeals. Muhammad Asghar had killed Abdul Razzaq during a foiled dacoity.
After the hanging, their bodies were handed over to their relatives by the jail officials for burial. On Monday, the jail officials arranged their last meeting with their relatives.
GUJRANWALA: A rape and murder convict was hanged in the Central Jail here on Tuesday. Ashraf of Khalilpura, Pindi Bhattian, was hanged in the presence of a magistrate, a doctor and the jail officials. The convict had killed a girl, 12, after raping her on October 3, 1999.
Agencies add: A death row prisoner was hanged in the Sialkot District Jail. According to the jail officials, Basharat Ali had killed Muhammad Iqbal over a minor dispute in Jhelum in 1997.
Meanwhile, an execution also took place in Dera Ghazi Khan, bringing the total number put to death since executions resumed last December to 160, officials said. All those executed had been convicted of murder. Executions in Pakistan resumed in December, ending a six-year moratorium, after Taliban militants gunned down 154 people, most of them children, at a school in the restive northwest. Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism offences, but in March they were extended to all capital offences. According to the Amnesty International, Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row and most of them have exhausted their appeals.