LAHORE, May 11: A lawyer and his accomplice were on Wednesday awarded capital punishment for abducting and clubbing to death a resident of Gulberg. Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman sentenced to death Advocate Shafqat Mahmood Khan Lodhi and Malik Tahir Salman with a fine of Rs100,000 each for killing Zulfiqar. They were also sentenced to seven years imprisonment each for abducting Zulfiqar.

The amount of the fine will be paid to the heirs of the deceased, and in case of default, the convicts will undergo additional six months imprisonment.

Shafqat’s son Imran Lodhi and Shaukat were acquitted of the charge, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The court also declared Hamid Ali Shah, Abdul Hafeez, Zaman proclaimed offenders.

According to the prosecution, the lawyer and his accomplices had on June 16, 2003, abducted Zulfiqar from his house along Gulberg’s Main Boulevard. The accused forced Zulfiqar to sign a transfer deed in their name, clubbed him to death on resistance and threw the body outside his residence.

LIFE IMPRISONMENT: Additional District and Sessions Judge Manzoor Husain Dogar on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs50,000 to a dacoit for killing a woman at Shahdara Town.