KARACHI, Jan 10: A sessions court on Monday sentenced a man to seven years in prison in an illicit weapons case. The court found Ali Akbar guilty of possessing unlicensed weapons within the remit of the Aziz Bhatti police station in August 2010.

The additional district and sessions judge (east), Waseem Iqbal, who conducted the trial, pronounced the judgment after hearing both sides.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 and in case of non-payment the convict would undergo an additional six-month imprisonment.

The court in its verdict said that the prosecution had examined four witnesses who had fully implicated the accused in the commissioning of the offence, adding that the prosecution had successfully proved its case by placing ample evidence before the court.

According to the prosecution, on Aug 8, 2010 the police and Rangers raided a hideout of criminals in Shanti Nagar area located on Dalmia Road and alleged gangster Mohammad Saeed alias Kalu Karrant and his four accomplices were killed in the ensuing shoot-out with the law-enforcement personnel while Ali Akbar and his three accomplices were apprehended and the police claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including rocket launchers and assault rifles from the hideout.

A case (FIR No 494/2010) was registered against Ali Akbar under Section 13-A (transports, sells, keeps, offers or exposes for sale, a cannon, grenade, rocket launcher, sub-machine gun, dynamite or detonator or ammunition which can be fired from such arms) of the Pakistan Arms Ordinance, 1965.

Separate cases were registered against his accomplices.

The accused was produced before the court in custody on Monday and the judge extended the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code to the convict and sent him back to prison along with a conviction warrant to serve out the remainder of the awarded sentence. Indian fishermen remanded A judicial magistrate on Monday remanded 10 Indian fishermen in judicial custody for fishing illegally in Pakistani waters.

The Maritime Security Agency detained the Indian fishermen and seized their four fishing boats on the night of Jan 7 for fishing illegally within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Pakistan.

The fishermen were produced before the judicial magistrate (west), who sent them to jail on 14-day judicial remand. A case (02/2011) was registered against the fishermen under Foreigners Act at the Docks police station.