Ulemas' assassins served death sentences

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has sentenced Syed Mohsin Talha, aka Pagal, to death on four counts for the targeted killings of two ulemas - Mufti Ghulam Akbar and Mufti Kamran Hussain.

Co-accused Zainul Abideen was handed life imprisonment on four counts. Both Mohsin and Abideen were also sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs50,000 each for illegal possession of firearms.

The court, which announced the verdict at the Anti-Terrorism Complex located within Karachi Central Jail, ordered Mohsin to pay Rs4 million in compensation to the families of the victims. In case of failure to pay, he will serve an additional one-year jail term.

Two other accused in the case - Syed Abbas Hussain, alias Ashir, and Abbas Jaffri - were acquitted. However, Ashir was sentenced to five-year jail term under the Sindh Arms Act. All three present at the hearing were taken into custody following the verdict.

The case had been registered on the complaint of Qari Hamdullah on August 23, 2016, at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station. Police confirmed that two suspects remain at large, and efforts to arrest them are ongoing.

In 2016, Iqra Darul Atfal seminary administrator Mufti Ghulam Akbar and his guest Mufti Kamran Hussain were shot by two unidentified men, along with their accomplices, at the seminary in Gulshan Block 6. Mufti Kamran died on the spot whereas Mufti Akbar succumbed to his wounds at a local hospital.

The then AIG police on September 5, 2016, had announced the arrest of five 'foreign trained terrorists' for carrying out sectarian target killings in the city.