Shahzeb murder case: Shahrukh Jatoi released on bail

Session judge approved bail of the convicts earlier in the day

KARACHI: A South district and sessions court ordered on Saturday the release of Shahzeb Khan's murderer Shahrukh Jatoi and the other accused after Shahzeb's father Aurangzeb Khan submitted an affidavit requesting the approval of Jatoi's bail.

Other accused in the murder case include Sajjad Talpur, Siraj Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.

In the affidavit, Aurangzeb agreed to pardon his son's killer in the name of Allah and drop the case.

There have also been reports that the aggrieved family pardoned the suspects after reaching a monetary arrangement. However, both the families have denied such reports.

The judge, Imdad Hussain Khoso, ordered the release of the convicts against a surety of Rs500,000 each. The court was informed that both the sides had reconciled earlier and the testimony was submitted with mutual consent.



"We forgave the murderers for the sake of Allah," said Aurangzeb. Asking for the release of the suspects, he pleaded to the court to drop all the charges against the accused after which the court granted interim bail to the convicts.

The court also accepted bail plea of Jatoi in the case of arms possession against a surety of Rs100,000. Jatoi was released from Jinnah hospital later in the day, where he was being treated. The others were released from central jail.

Case history

Shahzeb was killed on December 25, 2012 when Lashari, Siraj's servant, tried to flirt with Shahzeb's sister within the limits of the Darakhshan police station. Shahzeb initially had verbal fight with Lashari who called Siraj and the others.

The issue was apparently resolved when Shahzeb's father intervened and tried to pacify both his son and the other party. However after some time, Jatoi, Siraj and others chased Shahzeb's car and shot him dead.



When the incident was highlighted on the media, then chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the murder and referred the matter to an anti-terrorism court (ATC).

The ATC sentenced Jatoi and Siraj to death while life imprisonment was handed over to Lashari and Sajjad. The convicts later filed an appeal with the Sindh High Court which annulled anti-terrorism clauses in the case and referred it back to the sessions court.

'My brother did wrong'

Talking to Daily Express, Jatoi's brother professed that his brother and his friends committed a grave wrong by murdering Shahzeb. He also denied rumours being circulated on social media regarding any monetary deal between the two parties.

"Neither did we give any money, nor did the aggrieved family demand any amount," the brother said.



He added that his family had remorse over the murder of an innocent and Shahzeb's family pardoned Jatoi and others because they realised how deeply the family regretted the incident.