Death sentence awarded to murderer of Army officer

ISLAMABAD: A sessions court in Islamabad on Saturday awarded death sentence to Baitullah and life imprisonment to Gul Siddique for the murder of Major Mohammad Laraib of the Special Services Group (SSG) last year.

Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Ali Warriach also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on both accused.

Major Laraib was murdered on November 21, 2019 when he was meeting his friend in Sector G-9 in Islamabad after finishing his duty. The accused were arrested next month by mobile phone tracing.

The court issued its written order Saturday; the judge noted police had recovered an empty shell of a 30-bore pistol from the crime scene.

During his physical remand, Baitullah revealed details which led the police to recover 30-bore pistol, which forensic tests showed was the weapon used to commit the crime. The judgement states that further revelations by both suspects also led the police to recover the Major's original computerised national identity card (CNIC), Rs2,000 which were stolen from him and a brown wallet that belonged to the deceased's friend.

The judgement further noted the officer's friend's testimony in which she said that on the night of Nov 21, 2019, Major Laraib had picked her up from her hostel and they had gone to have coffee, and later to the F-9 Park. The Major’s friend further stated that they were in the park when both suspects appeared and Baitullah asked the Major to "hand over whatever he has". She said Baitullah had kicked the major twice and asked him to hand over his wallet. However, upon his resistance, Baitullah shot the Major in the head.

The judge in his decision wrote, "From what has been discussed, I am of the opinion that both accused in furtherance of their common intention while committing robbery committed Qatl-e-Amd of Major Laraib, hence they are held guilty and convicted u/s 302-6/34 PPC as Tazeer read with 397."

The order states, "The recovery of snatched articles (wallet and CNIC) has also proved against both the accused persons. They are also held guilty of retaining stolen property and are convicted u/s 411 PPC."