Two men sentenced to 31 years in jail

They had opened fire at the Rangers during an encounter in Saddar last year

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday sentenced two men to 31 years in prison, finding them guilty of attacking and injuring Rangers personnel and possessing illicit weapons.

Muhammad Hassan and Umair were arrested in January 2014 after an encounter with law enforcers in Saddar. The Preedy police, who produced the suspects in court, contended that the Rangers had signalled to the men to stop for checking during a routine patrol in the area. Instead of stopping, however, they opened fire at the security personnel. The Rangers retaliated and the suspects were apprehended in an injured condition. Two unlicensed 30-bore pistols were also seized from their possession.

ATC-IX judge Farman Ali Kanasro, finding them guilty, awarded them multiple sentences on different charges. They were sentenced to 10 years in jail for attempting murder, 10 years on terrorism charges, seven years for possessing illegal weapons, two years for assaulting public servants and another two years for causing damage.

However, the judge in his order observed that the sentences will run concurrently, and therefore the longest sentences will be counted as the imprisonment time.

Alleged extortionist remanded

Separately, the same court sent a suspect in an extortion case to jail custody on seven-day judicial remand. The suspect, identified as Raees, was one of the absconders implicated in the extortion case of Waseem alias Beater. The verdict in the case was recently given, with the key accused, former policeman Waseem, being acquitted for lack of evidence against him. The case was, however, kept dormant against the absconders.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2015.