Target killer given life sentence

He was convicted in a case involving the murder of three citizens

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced on Thursday a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker to life imprisonment after convicting him in a case involving the murder of three citizens.

According to a Rangers prosecutor, the convict, Rizwan, had been involved in the murders of Naveed, Sajid and Imran, within the jurisdiction of the Azizabad police in 2014. The prosecutor maintained that the deceased had been subject to targeted killing at Rizwan's hands, on the orders of party leaders. Meanwhile, a co-accused, namely Amir Sarphata, was acquitted due to the lack of substantial evidence.

Separately, an ATC remanded three individuals belonging to MQM-London to police custody for seven days.

The three men, Adil Ansari, Majid and Shahid, were accused of being Indian agents from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). They were presented before an ATC of the Sindh High Court.

According to the investigation officer (IO), the suspects had been operating a RAW network in the port city. He maintained that they had been funding the operations of various banned outfits, and were also providing information about different agencies to the Indian intelligence body. The IO added that illegal weapons and explosives were seized from the possession of the three men, who were arrested from different parts of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2020.