KARACHI: An antiterrorism court sentenced on Tuesday a convict to death in a murder case of a police officer.

Abdul Rasheed was found guilty of killing Assistant Sub-Inspector Ali Hussain in an Arambagh locality in December 2012.

The ATC-III judge, Syed Shakeel Haider, also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 and ruled that the capital punishment shall not be executed till the confirmation by the high court.

Moreover, the court also handed down 25-year imprisonment to the convict for the offence of attempted murder, two years each for deterring public servants from discharge of their duty and damaging a police van, three years for carrying an unlicensed pistol and a fine of Rs50,000 in each offence.

However, the court ruled that all sentences of imprisonment would run concurrently.

According to the judgement, the charges stood proved beyond a shadow of a doubt since the witnesses deposed against the accused and documentary evidence, including ballistic report of crime weapon, recovered from the accused, also corroborated their testimonies.

The prosecution said that a party of the City Courts police station headed by the ASI was checking suspicious persons near the sessions courts south and upon seeing the police the suspect with his absconding accomplice Nasir riding a motorcycle attempted to ride away.

However, the police party chased them, but the suspects opened fire on the police van near Pakistan Chowk and shot dead the ASI.

The police arrested one suspect and his accomplice escaped, it added.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2016