Man gets death for murdering SBCA union leader

A model court on Thursday sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of murdering a trade unionist two years ago. Babar Siraj was convicted of killing Ashraf Ali, the then general secretary of the Functional Labour Union at the Sindh Building Control Authority, over a dispute on July 18, 2019.

Pronouncing the verdict, Judge Haleem Ahmed of the model criminal court of District East, observed that the prosecution successfully established the charge against Siraj; therefore, he had been awarded the death sentence.

The judge also ordered him to pay a compensation amount of Rs500,000 to the heirs of the victim. In case of default, the convict would have to undergo an additional imprisonment for six months.

According to the prosecution, Siraj along with the absconding accused Arif alias Mota had opened fire on Ali and his son Talha after an exchange of heated arguments within the premises of the SBCA office.

Ali was critically injured and rushed to Liaquat National Hospital, but he succumbed to the wounds during the treatment. Siraj was caught by people, but Arif managed to escape. The prosecutor, Anwar Mahar, told the court that Arif, Siraf and Ibrahim alias Kaka, who was the then chairman of the Peoples Unity Labor Union, had quarreled with Ashraf a week before the incident. He added that the fight had occurred as the accused had allegedly spat over the poster carrying pictures of and his party leader, Pir Pagara.

The defence counsel, Qaim Ali, denied the allegations and claimed innocence on behalf of his client. The judge, however, ruled the defence could not bring satisfactory evidence on record in their support.

The case was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 114 (abettor when offence is committed) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the New Town Police Station on the complaint of Talha.