In cold blood: Three awarded death penalty for killing retired SC judge’s parents

Man said to be son of couple among those convicted

LAHORE: An additional district and sessions judge on Friday awarded the death penalty to three men convicted of killing Supreme Court Justice (r) Javed Iqbal’s parents for money.

The judge sentenced Naveed Iqbal, Muhammad Ameen and Abbas Shakir to death and fined them Rs500,000 each. According to prosecution Iqbal, the brother of the retired justice, had killed 80-year-old Abdul Hameed—a former DIG—and 70 year-old Zarina Bibi.

Then police chief Aslam Tareen had claimed that Iqbal was a rickshaw driver. After murdering his parents, he is said to have fled to Ichhra with Rs500,000 in a locked briefcase in vain. Tareen said Iqbal and his accomplices had reached the retired police official’s house at 3:30pm in a rickshaw. He said Iqbal had introduced Shakir as a prospective employee to Hameed and Bibi. Tareen said Hameed had asked Iqbal to go take a look at the servant quarters when his other two accomplices had pounced on the couple.

“I had loaned some money to Iqbal. He had included me in the plot to kill the couple after I demanded my money back,” Shakir said while accepting Tareen’s statement. Tareen said the retired justice had given Rs1.6 million in cash to Iqbal to enable him to purchase a house and another loan. He said Iqbal was estranged from his entire family.

Iqbal had earlier told newsmen that he had not killed his father. He had later confessed following the production of incriminating evidence. Tareen, who had overseen efforts to crack the case, had taken Javed Iqbal into confidence before nabbing Iqbal.

The convict had been inducted as an SI in Balochistan Police before being transferred to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). His service was later terminated due to unexplained absence. Javed Iqbal had banned his entry at the Supreme Court due to his dubious character.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on April 13, 2011, the convict had claimed that efforts were being made to placate Colonel Saeed Iqbal, the brother of the deceased, in a bid to have the case withdrawn.

He had said that one Rana Tahir, a close friend of his, had met the colonel in this regard. “This is a family matter that should be resolved inside it,” Tahir was reported as having said to Saeed Iqbal.

Iqbal had also said that no lawyer had been willing to represent him as he could not afford to pay them. He had said that Advocate Zubair Rafique, a cousin of his friend Rana Tahir, would plead his case for free.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2016.