RAWALPINDI: The hanging of a mass murderer in Adiala Jail on Tuesday was deferred for the second time on Monday, a senior jail official told Dawn.

He said the execution of retired Capt Zafar Iqbal was postponed till further orders on Monday evening on the directions of the district and sessions court.

The family of the convicted murderer had filed a petition with the sessions court, saying they had a patch-up with the heirs of the victims.

Following the court orders, the jail authorities postponed the execution.

Zafar killed six members of Capt Sarwar Shaheed’s family in the Arya Mohallah of Rawalpindi and later went to Sangori village of Mandra and also gunned down five other members of the family in January 1994.

An anti-terrorism court awarded death penalty to him which was later upheld by the Lahore High Court.

The review petition of the convicted murderer was also rejected by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court in 2008 and his mercy appeal was also turned down by the president of Pakistan.

On April 14, Zafar’s execution was delayed till April 17 as negotiations between the relatives of the victims and the convict were underway for a patch-up.

After all efforts by the family of the convicted prisoner proved unproductive, his death warrant was issued by the relevant court of law and he was scheduled to be hanged on Tuesday.

Before the court order, the convicted murderer held his last meeting with his family members, including his son Tasawar Iqbal in the prison on Monday.

“My father acknowledged that what had happened in the past should not have happened. He advised me to end the enmity after his death and not to take revenge from anybody,” Tasawar told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2016