LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday dismissed an appeal against death penalty filed by a young man convicted for his role in a 2007 suicide attack on defence a ministry’s bus in Rawalpindi.

An anti-terrorism court had handed down death penalty on 20 counts to Umar Adeel, along with 30-year imprisonment, in 2011 following a trial held in Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi.

At least 20 personnel of an intelligence agency were killed and dozens of others injured in the attack.

The convict’s counsel argued that his client was arrested a year after the incident. He said he was accused of dropping the suicide bombers near the blast spot on a rented car.

However, the counsel said, the prosecution could not establish this allegation. He said none of the attack survivors identified his client.

A deputy prosecutor, however, told the court that police personnel had witnessed the convict while dropping the suicide bombers.

After hearing both sides, the bench comprising Justice Abdul Sami Khan and Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction.

Published in Dawn January 15th , 2015

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