Murderer of serviceman sentenced to death

Local court unveils written order in Major Laraib case

LAHORE:

A local court has handed down capital punishment to a man who killed an army officer during a mugging incident in the federal capital in November last year. The court has also sentenced his accomplice to life.

Special Services Group’s (SSG) Major Muhammad Laraib was shot in the head by unidentified gunmen as he sat on a bench at Islamabad’s Sector G-9/1 park on November 21, 2019 along with a friend Aleena.

The police had later arrested two suspects Bait Ullah and Gul Siddique through mobile phone tracing.

The verbal order in the case was given two days ago. In a written order issued on Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Ali Warriach sentenced Bait Ullah to death while Siddique was handed life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on each of the convicts.

The court said police had recovered an empty shell of a 30-bore pistol from the crime scene.

When Siddique was arrested and searched, he also had a 30-bore pistol on him. During his physical remand, Bait Ullah revealed details which led the police to another 30-bore pistol, which forensic tests showed was the weapon used to commit the crime.

Further revelations by both suspects also led the police to recover the major's original computerised national identity card (CNIC), Rs2,000 which were stolen from him and a wallet that belonged to the deceased's friend, the judgment said.

"From what has been discussed, I am of the opinion that both accused in furtherance of their common intention while committing robbery committed Qatl-e-Amd of Major Laraib, hence they are held guilty and convicted u/s 302-6/34 PPC as Tazeer read with 397.

"The recovery of snatched articles (purse and CNIC) has also proved against both the accused persons. They are also held guilty of retaining stolen property and are convicted u/s 411 PPC," the order stated.