KARACHI: LJ activist awarded death on 45 counts: Mosque blasts
By Tahir Siddiqui
KARACHI, June 4: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Saturday handed down massive punishment to an alleged activist of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi when the judge sentenced the accused to death on counts of 45 murders and awarded a 1,320-year term.
The verdict was announced by Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of ATC-5 in the bomb blast cases of Masjid-i-Haideri and Masjid Ali Raza, which left 45 people dead and 127 others injured in May 2004.
Gul Hasan, 26, kept on smiling as the judge announced the verdict.
“I was expecting a capital punishment, though I have nothing to do with the blasts”, said the convict with an unruffled smile.
“I have never been to any maderessah or a school and I don’t know why police implicated me in cases”, he said.
Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum told Dawn that the accused was found guilty of having masterminded the blasts in two mosques of the Shia sect in May 2004.
As many as 23 people were killed and 98 others injured on May 7 last year when a suicide bomber, constable Akber Ali Niazi, blew himself inside the Haideri mosque on the premises of the Sindh Madarsatul Islam.
The judge made a new addition in the judicial history of Pakistan when he sentenced Gul Hasan to death on counts of 23 murders. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs100,000 on each count. The convict will have to undergo an additional six-month term each in default on the payment. The accused was sentenced to a 10-year term and a fine of Rs50,000 for injuring 98 faithful. He will have to undergo an additional six-month term each in case of default on the payment.
The judge sentenced Gul Hasan to life imprisonment for causing explosion and damaging the property of Masjid-i-Haideri under Section 3 of the Explosive Substance Act, 1908, read with Section 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code. His entire properties were also ordered to be forfeited to the state.
Another 22 faithful were killed and 37 others injured on May 31 last year when a suicide bomber blew himself inside the Masjid Ali Raza at the Old Numaish.
The judge sentenced the accused to capital punishment and fine of Rs100,000 for each murder. He will have to suffer an additional six-month term each in case of default on payments.
The accused was also sentenced to life in jail for causing an explosion and damaging the property of Masjid Ali Raza under Section 3 of the Explosive Substance Act, 1908, read with Section 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The judge also ordered forfeiture of his entire properties.
Gul Hasan was arrested on June 13 within the limits of the Mithadar police. He is stated to have planned the attacks with absconding accused, including Asif Chotoo and Mufti Obaid. However, the accused disputed the time and place of his arrest and deposed that he was arrested on June 11 from his house at Moch Koh.
In Haideri Masjid bomb blast case, the prosecution examined in all 48 witnesses, including three eye-witnesses, who deposed to have seen accused Gul Hasan giving a briefcase to suicide bomber, constable Akbar Khan Niazi.
According to PW Head Constable Habib Ullah Khan Niazi, he was posted at the Madarsatul Islam on the day of the blast. He said around 12:45pm he saw a white-coloured car entering the historic institution from the Sharah-i-Liaquat.
He deposed that the car was occupied by four people, three of them bearded ones. He said a motorcycle with a pillion rider also stopped near the car as the four occupants, one of whom in a police uniform, got down.
HC Niazi submitted that Gul Hasan was carrying a brief case, which he handed to the man in police uniform, who was also sporting a beard. Later, all of them embraced the constable who left for the Haideri mosque and the three others entered the Sunni mosque on the premises. He said around 1:15am a blast occurred.
HC Arshad Ali, the second prime witness for the prosecution, submitted he was also posted at the Madarsatul Islam. He also gave a similar account.
The two head constables also placed on record the copy of station diary, containing details of their duty places and timings on the day of the blast.
According to PW Shabbir Ahmed, a Hyderabad–based second-hand cloth merchant, saw accused Gul Hasan hugging the suicide bomber a little before the blast.
He stated that he used to visit Karachi every Thursday and stay till Friday in connection with his business. He said on the day of blast, he went to perform the Juma prayers at the Sunni mosque on the premises of the Sindh Madarsatul Islam around 12:45pm.
He said he saw five or six men, including accused Gul Hasan and police constable, standing near the Shia mosque. He said Gul Hasan hugged the policeman, who went into the Haideri mosque, carrying a briefcase in his hand. Similarly, the prosecution also produced two eye-witnesses in the Masjid Ali Raza bomb blast case.
PW Syed Mujahid Hussain stated that he had gone to the office of Hermain Travel Agency in front of the Masjid Ali Raza on the day of blast for collecting details for the visit of his sister and mother to religious places in Iran and Iraq.
