Capital punishment: Anti-terrorism court sentences three to death

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced, on Monday, three men to death in a kidnapping and murder case.

Shujat Ali aka Shahjee, Shahzad Memon and Farhan were all found guilty of abducting a trader, Muhammad Nawaz, for ransom and then killing him within the limits of the Jackson police station in August 2010.

According to the prosecution, the accused had kidnapped Nawaz from the remits of Airport police station on August 4, 2010, and had demanded a ransom of Rs10 million for his release, adding that the complainant of the case, Muhammad Yar, and the wife of the victim managed to arrange Rs1.95 million and gave it to the accused on August 28, 2010.

However, the accused killed Nawaz and dumped his body within the limits of Jackson police station. The prosecution added that the body was later recovered by the police and was identified. In December 2010, the police arrested the men during snap-checking and they later confessed to their involvement in the murder.

Subsequently, the complainant and the widow rightly recognised the accused during an identification parade held before a judicial magistrate.

On Monday, an ATC-IV judge awarded death sentences to the accused after the prosecution successfully established the kidnapping and murder charges. The court also ordered the confiscation of all property of the accused, who were then remanded back into police custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2014.