KARACHI: A death row prisoner, who was scheduled to be hanged on Thursday (today), got a new lease of life at least for two days as the Sindh High Court stayed his execution on his petition.

Shahid alias Shahoo was convicted of killing a woman and her daughter during a robbery. He moved a petition in the SHC through his counsel, Advocate Khwaja Naveed Ahmed.

The counsel told a two-judge bench that the convict wanted to pay the Diyat (compensation) and his execution may be stayed for two weeks.

Three hijackers to be hanged today

Three condemned prisoners — Shabbir Baloch, Shahsawar and Sabir — are set to be hanged at the Karachi and Hyderabad jails in the early hours of Thursday.

Shabbir Baloch has been languishing in the Karachi central prison, while Shahsawar and Sabir are confined in the Hyderabad central prison.

They were sentenced to death by the Hyderabad antiterrorism court for hijacking a PIA aircraft in 1998.

The appeals of the three convicts against their conviction have been dismissed by the superior judiciary and the president has also rejected their mercy petitions.

On May 21, the trial courts issued black warrants for the execution of death row prisoners and asked the jail authorities to carry out the hanging under the supervision of area magistrates on May 28 at 4.30am.

Officials at the Karachi and Hyderabad central prisons said that families of the death row prisoners met them for the last time on Wednesday.

The PIA aircraft (PK-554) was hijacked on May 24, 1998. The plane took off from Turbat for Karachi via Gwadar. The hijackers boarded the plane at Turbat and forced the pilot and co-pilot to head for Delhi, India. However, the pilots landed the aircraft at Hyderabad airport and gave the impression to the hijackers that they had landed in Bhuj, India, for refuelling. Later, in a commando action, the hijackers were arrested and the hostages were freed.

Killer of a four-year-old to be sent to the gallows

Another death row prisoner is set to be hanged at the Karachi central prison on Thursday.

Mehmood Ali was condemned to death by an antiterrorism court in Karachi for kidnapping and killing a four-year-old boy, Tauqir Ahmed, in Quaidabad in March 2003.

The high court and the apex court have upheld the verdict of the trial court and dismissed his appeals against conviction. The president has also rejected his mercy petition.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2015

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