Verdict in case of Rangers’ shooting down a civilian deferred

A sepoy of the Pakistan Rangers was charged with killing Ghulam Haider.

KARACHI: The judgment in a case relating to the killing of a man by a Rangers personnel was, on Saturday, deferred till March 27.

Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso of Anti-Terrorism Court-I, who had reserved the verdict on February 11 after completing the trial, was on leave, said the lawyer engaging with the trial.

Shahzad Masih, a sepoy of the Pakistan Rangers, has been charged with killing Ghulam Haider whose vehicle had hit a motorcyclist in Shah Faisal Colony in June 2011.

A case (FIR 148/13) was lodged against the Rangers personnel under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Shah Faisal Colony police station on the complaint of the victim’s cousin.

But the investigators later incorporated Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, after the Supreme Court took notice of the killing.

In his final arguments, the defence lawyer had argued that the personnel had no criminal intention and the bullet had unintentionally hit Haider when he and his cousin were trying to escape after knocking down a motorcyclist, despite being signalled to stop.

On the other hand, the state prosecutor and the complainant’s lawyer had insisted that the prosecution’s case carried ample evidence against the accused who, they argued, must be convicted and sentenced for the crime.

In January, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had upheld sentences awarded to the five Rangers personnel and a civilian by an anti-terrorism court, which had found them guilty of shooting to death an unarmed youth, Sarfaraz Shah, at a public park in the city.