KARACHI, Sept 13: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday handed down death sentences to three men for kidnapping a 26-year-old man for ransom.Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-V also sentenced the men – Shiraz Ahmed, Shirazul Haq and Qari Yaseen – to a five-year jail term and a fine of Rs5,000 each for creating terror. The fourth accused, Khawaj Ahmed, was acquitted. According to kidnap victim Ali Akbar, Khawaj Ahmed had performed guard duties and provided meals during the victim’s three-day captivity.

The victim, an assistant manager in Sui Southern Gas Company, was kidnapped by four persons in the early morning of February 18, 2007, near the Northern Bypass in the precincts of the Sacchal police station.

The victim, a resident of North Nazimabad, was driving his friend Zeeshan to a nearby shrine when they were intercepted by a car bearing a fake registration number (ALS-689). Two men dressed in police uniforms whisked Akbar away.

Some hours later, the kidnappers called the victim’s father, real estate broker Saifuddin, and demanded Rs20 million for his son’s release. Later, they agreed to accept Rs500,000, which they told Saifuddin to bring to Karachi airport. As Saifuddin reached the airport, he was instructed to travel to Islamabad and was allowed to use part of the ransom money to buy his ticket. As the father exited Islamabad airport’s domestic lounge, Shiraz Ahmed and absconding accused Zahoor Ahmed Pirzada received the ransom and Ali Akbar was set free in Karachi the same day.

The four men charged with the crime were arrested on a tip-off on February 8 in the limits of the Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police station. They were produced before a judicial magistrate for an identification parade on March 8. The victim’s father Saifuddin identified Shiraz Ahmed as the person who had received the ransom money at the Islamabad airport, while the victim Ali Akbar identified all four accused.

Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum examined a total of 12 prosecution witnesses, including the victim and his father who also identified the accused before the trial court.

The prosecutor told Dawn that the police had also seized a police uniform from Qari Yaseen’s house. “There was enough evidence to prove the guilt of the accused men,” he commented.