Capital punishment: Man sentenced to death for triple murder

Ismail, a tailor, shot dead three shopkeepers in Landhi in February 2013.

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for killing three people.

Muhammad Ismail, a tailor, was found guilty of murdering Arshad Khan, Muhammad Siddiq and Shahjehan. According to the prosecution, Ismail killed Khan when the deceased was going to the mosque for evening prayers after closing his confectionery store in Landhi in February 2013. The accused fired shots at Khan in the street but the latter sought shelter in a nearby house. Ismail followed him and opened fire, injuring his abdomen and leg before fleeing. Khan died before he could reach the hospital.

Complainant Afzal, Khan's uncle, submitted that the accused had also killed nearby shopkeepers Siddiq and Shahjehan before turning to his nephew.

The Sharafi Goth police arrested Ismail from his residence a day later, seizing an unlicensed 30-bore pistol from his possession. He pleaded his innocence, claiming that he had been falsely implicated. Ten witnesses, however, bore evidence against him in the two-year-long trial.

ATC-IV judge Anand Ram Sairani convicted Ismail under Section 265-H of the Code of Criminal Procedure, handing him a death sentence. The judge also awarded him a five-year jail term for possessing an illegal weapon. The accused was further ordered to pay a fine of Rs100,000, failure to do which will result in an additional year's imprisonment.

The motive behind the triple murder, however, remained uncertain. According to defence lawyer Raja Hasan Nawaz, Khan was a friend of the accused. "Ismail and the complainant's family had a dispute over a marriage proposal," he told The Express Tribune. "The killings were a result of a political clash in the area but he was implicated due to personal grudges."

Men jailed for 14 years

Separately, another ATC sentenced two men to 14 years in jail on charges of possessing explosive material. Abdul Qadeer and Abdul Sattar were arrested by the Malir police in April 2014. According to the prosecution, hand grenades were found in their possession. ATC-V judge Javed Alam sentenced them to 14 years' imprisonment under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2015.