Final verdict: ATC awards death sentence to cleric’s murderer

Four others receive rigorous imprisonment, five acquitted

GILGIT: An anti-terrorism court awarded a death sentence on Monday to Shakirullah Jan for murdering prominent Shia cleric Agha Ziauddin Rizvi.

The death penalty was handed down during a hearing in the court of judge Raja Shahbaz. Jan was also sentenced to 20 years in the slammer and fined Rs2 million.

At least four others who were involved in the case – Naqeeb Ahmed, Maulvi Nadeem, Qari Bilal and Bashir Ahmed – received 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court acquitted five others – including Nawab Alam, Azhar Wali, Aurangzeb and Shah Raees – for lack of evidence.

Rewind

On January 8, 2005, the cleric’s vehicle was ambushed by armed assailants in Gilgit. The attackers opened fire on him and two of his security guards died on the spot. Rizvi was initially wounded and airlifted to Rawalpindi. He died five days later at the Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. The murder sparked unprecedented sectarian violence in Gilgit and a large number of people were killed.

Over the past eight years, Jan and four others who were convicted in the case repeatedly evaded arrest. In December 2012, Jan escaped from a jail in Gilgit along with another inmate, Arifuddin. Following the jailbreak, the then Gilgit-Baltistan government suspended six jail officials and ordered a judicial enquiry.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2015.