Justice served: Four years on, ATC sentences kidnappers to life imprisonment

The accused had kidnapped senior bankers, who were later rescued by law enforcers

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court sentenced on Thursday three men to life imprisonment, disposing one of the most high-profile kidnapping cases in recent years.

Rasheed Narejo, Mehboob Ali and Zameer Ahmed were convicted of kidnapping three top bankers of the country — State Bank of Pakistan's director Najamus Saqib, its marketing manager Nadim Bhurgari and United Bank Limited's senior executive vice-president Asif Shahzad.

The bankers had gone missing on the night of May 30, 2011, when they were returning home after a dinner at the Country Club, a private recreational facility located in the outskirts of the city, near Bin Qasim port.

According to the prosecution, they were kidnapped by Narejo — a notorious dacoit with head money of Rs1 million, and his accomplices from Bin Qasim as the Toyota Camry in which the bankers were heading back home was found abandoned there.

The bankers' families received calls from the kidnappers who demanded a collective ransom of Rs90 million for their release. The families registered a complaint with the Citizens  - Police Liaison Committee, and a high-level team, comprising Rangers, Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) and other agencies was formed to arrest the culprits.

The negotiations over the hefty ransom money went on for a month, which gave the investigators ample time to look for clues. The law enforcers received an important lead as they raided a house in the same vicinity, where they found documents of the sedan belonging to one of the abductees. A suspect was also taken into custody in the raid, who pointed out a location where the bankers were being kept.

Acting on the tip, the law enforcers raided a place in the forests of the katcha area of Shah Bhelo near Sukkur. All the captives were rescued unhurt in the operation, an AVCC official had told a press conference.

The case was tried for four years and finally on Thursday, the ATC-II judge pronounced her verdict. "The prosecution successfully established its case against the suspects," she observed in the 77-page judgment. "All the three suspects have been convicted under Section 7(e) of the Anti-Terrorism Act." Besides awarding the convicts imprisonment of 25 years, the judge also ordered to confiscate all their moveable and immoveable properties.

The judgment also read that the case against the absconding suspect, Naik Muhammad, will be kept dormant.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2015.