Man handed death sentence for killing cop

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) awarded on Thursday two death sentences to a man for killing a police official during a bank robbery attempt.

The court also sentenced the convict, Muhammad Nawaz, to 44 years of imprisonment for robbing a bank, injuring a guard and taking people hostage. The court further ordered the convict to pay a fine of Rs600,000.

The ATC had reserved the verdict on the case in the previous hearing.

Reading out the decision, the court said the prosecution had proven Nawaz guilty of robbing a bank and killing Sub-Inspector Ishaq, with the help of the presented evidence.

The court ordered Nawaz to deposit the fine in the national exchequer.

According to the prosecution, Nawaz had tried to rob a private bank on April 1, 2014, within the limits of Sharafi Goth police station. He and his accomplice had gunned down Ishaq and injured a security guard, Anwar, for offering resistance.

Nawaz's accomplice, Faizan, was also killed during the incident.

Possession of explosives

Separately, an ATC sentenced Ashiq Ali alias Kamran to five years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs50,000 for the possession of explosive material.

In case of non-payment of the penalty, Ashiq will have to serve an additional six months in prison.

The convict was presented in court by jail authorities, where the court announced the decision on the case that it had reserved during the last hearing.

According to the prosecution, Ashiq was arrested by the police from Shah Latif Town, along with explosives.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2020.