Three convicts hanged in Lahore jail, two in Rawalpindi

LAHORE/RAWALPINDI: Five death-row convicts were hanged in prisons of Lahore and Rawalpindi Friday morning. Nadeem Shahzad of Garhi Shahu and Samar John of Youhanabad were convicted of killing an MBA student in 1999. The two had kidnapped the victim for ransom and murdered him after failure to receive ransom.
Riaz Yousaf of Township was also hanged in Kot Lakhpat Jail on wee hours of Friday. He was convicted of murdering a woman and her four children in 1999.The appeals of convicts for clemency had been rejected by the president. They were allowed to meet their families last time before execution. Police have handed over bodies to the heirs after completing legal formalities.
Separately, two death-row prisoners — Muhammad Ashraf and Zafar Iqbal — were hanged in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. District and Sessions Judge had awarded death sentence to both. Mandra Police had arrested Zafar Iqbal and registered a murder case in 2000 while Wah Police held Muhammad Ashraf in 2002.
The jail authorities had earlier arranged their last meetings with the family members after receiving the death warrants for the murder convicts. Later the bodies were handed over to the heirs. Tight security arrangements were made in and outside the jail. As many as 200 death convicts have been executed since December 2014.