Asad Zaidi murder case: Four sentenced to death, one life term

The ATC judge sentenced two other to five years jail and exonerated one in the high-profile murder case.

GILGIT:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday awarded death sentence to four men for their involvement in the murder of a former deputy speaker of Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly and another man.

The court also awarded life imprisonment to another person and five years jail term to two others, court sources told The Express Tribune.

Justice Syed Faisal, a judge of the ACT-1 sentenced Arshad Aman, Mirbaz, Faizan and Banyamin to death and handed down life imprisonment to Shakeel, the sources said. The judge gave Mansoor and Amjad five years jail term while exonerated Manzoor Johar from all charges.

Asad Zaidi and another person from Chilas were shot dead in an ambush in Park Link road, Kashrote, in April 2009 after gunmen opened indiscriminate gunshots on a vehicle they were travelling in. The driver was wounded in the attack.

Zaidi was deputy speaker of the then Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA) and a popular politician from Skardu, Baltistan. He was elected as deputy speaker of the NALA in 2004.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2012.