SHC sets aside death penalty of man convicted of killing two cops

The Sindh High Court has set aside the death sentence of a man convicted of murdering two policemen more than seven years ago.

Shah Faisal had been sentenced to death by an anti- terrorism court after finding him guilty of murdering policemen Nadeem and Sajid on February 3, 2012, in an Orangi Town area.

The appellant's counsel submitted that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the appellant as no direct evidence was produced against him before the trial court. He submitted that the testimonies of eyewitnesses were contradictory and could not be relied upon in the eyes of the law.

The state counsel supported the prosecution case and the trial court judgment.

The court after perusal of the evidence of the case observed that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the appellant and set aside the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court and ordered releasing him if not required in other cases.

Kidnapping case

The police have charge-sheeted two naval officers, including a woman officer, for abducting a PN employee, who had been missing for the last five years, a police officer told Sindh High Court in a compliance report.

Filing the report in the Sindh High Court regarding the disappearance of Imran Yosuf, an employee of the PN who had been missing since August 18, 2014, from PIB Colony, SP Investigation East submitted that the police had submitted a charge sheet against Lt. Commander (PN) Umar Salam and Lt. Somia Aatif for abducting the PN employee in their personal capacity.

He submitted that a judicial magistrate had accepted the charge sheet and issued non-bailable warrants against them for further proceedings.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, accepting the compliance report, observed that since the matter was pending before the trial court, the trial court shall decide the case in accordance with the law. The court had earlier taken notice of the failure of the police to arrest the suspects involved in the kidnapping of the missing person and closure of the case by the police due to lack of evidence.

The court had directed the SSP East to explain what the need for a reinvestigation of the matter was when special team members had opined that the case of the petitioner was fell under kidnapping due to personal enmity and a case be registered against two naval officers who allegedly kidnapped the PN employee in personal capacity but used official structure.