KARACHI, Jan 26: A sessions court on Wednesday handed down death sentence to a man in a murder case registered over seven years ago.

Aslam Jogi said to be associated with one of the several gangs operating in Lyari was found guilty of killing Junaid-ur-Rahman within the remit of the Kalakot police station in October 2003.

Additional district and sessions judge (south) Sagheer Ahmed Sheikh, who conducted the trial inside the judicial complex of the central prison, pronounced the judgment after recording evidence of witnesses and final arguments from both sides.

The court also directed the convict to pay Rs50,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased.

Aslam Jogi was also found responsible for making an attempt on the life of complainant Haji Jahanzeb, the father of Junaid-ur-Rahman. The court sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered him to pay Rs25,000 as compensation to the complainant.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 each for murder and attempted murder and in case of non-payment the convict would have to serve an additional one-year imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the complainant and his son, Junaid-ur-Rahman, were present near their under-construction building in the Kalakot area when two armed men, Aslam Jogi and Mohammad Sajid, arrived and tried to extort money from the complainant on Oct 5, 2003. As he resisted and had a heated argument with the armed men, they opened fire on him and his son, leaving both the victims wounded. Some labourers and onlookers managed to overpower Aslam and handed over him to the police while the co-accused managed to escape.

Later, Junaid succumbed to his wounds, the prosecution added.

A case (FIR No 222/2003) was registered against the accused under Sections 302 (murder) and 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Kalakot police station.

In its verdict, the court ruled that the prosecution successfully proved its case against the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt by placing ample evidence before the court. It further observed that that the complainant was an eyewitness of the case and he fully implicated the accused in the commissioning of offence. Besides, four labourers, who were present at the under-construction building and witnessed the incident, also supported the evidence of the complainant, it observed.

Also, the recovery of the murder weapon from the possession of the accused and the medical evidence corroborated the case of the prosecution, it concluded.

The court 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 accused and ruled that the convict would serve out the term before the death sentence, which was subject to the confirmation of the high court.