KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Wednesday sentenced three militants to death for their involvement in a suicide bomb attack that killed four people, including police inspector Shafiq Tanoli.

The ATC-XV judge, who is conducting trial in the judicial complex inside the Central Prison Karachi, pronounced its verdict reserved earlier after recording evidence of the witnesses and concluding arguments from both sides.

The court found Nadeem Khan, Abid Ali and Noor-ul-Rasheed guilty of masterminding a suicide attack that killed police inspector Shafiq Tanoli. The police said that they were affiliated with banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The judge awarded them capital punishment on four counts and ordered them to pay a compensation of Rs100,000 each to the legal heirs of the victims.

Furthermore, they were awarded a collective imprisonment of seven years each in other cases pertaining to possession of illicit arms and explosives.

The judge wrote in the judgement that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a shadow of a doubt against the convicts.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) personnel had arrested them during a raid in the Labour Square area of SITE on Dec 21, 2014.

It claimed that the three men associated with the banned militant outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had brought the suicide bomber to a shop, where police inspector Shafiq Tanoli was sitting with his cousins in the old Sabzi Mandi early in the morning on April 24, 2014.

The police claimed that three hand grenades, a Kalashnikov and two pistols were seized from the suspects.

They were booked in cases registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempt to murder), 427 (mischief causing damage), 109 (abetting a crime) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with the Section 23(1)-A of the Sindh Arms Act, sections 4 and 5 of the Explosives Substances Act read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

During the trial, an eyewitness had identified the convicts during an identification parade before a judicial magistrate, as the ones who had brought the suicide bomber to the place of incident.

The witness, Ashiq Hussain Khurram Rasheed, rightly identified the three men. While assigning their role in the commissioning of the crime, the witness deposed that they had brought the suicide bomber to the place of incident.

The blast killed Inspector Tanoli, Jalal Qureshi, Muhammad Dawood and Ejaz Ahmed while 15 others had sustained injuries.

Tanoli had been involved in several high-profile murder cases, including journalist Wali Khan Babar’s and Lyari gangster Arshad Pappu’s.

Police claimed that the slain police inspector had reportedly escaped attempts on his life, around seven times, before he was killed in the suicide attack.

Tanoli, who had joined the Karachi police in 1980s, was also said to be one of the surviving policemen who took part in the 1990s operations in Karachi, who were later killed in targeted attacks.

It was believed that Tanoli’s younger brother, Naveed, was killed the same day when Tanoli, the then SHO of the Supermarket police station, had arrested the murderers of Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar.

However, days before being killed, the policeman was suspended for allegedly conducting an illegal raid on a house in the Seaview locality.

Later, he was demoted from the rank of sub-inspector to assistant sub-inspector, as he was found guilty of harassing and arresting some inmates of the house, by declaring them criminals.

Two get life imprisonment in triple murder

An antiterrorism court on Wednesday sentenced two convicts to life imprisonment in a case of triple murder.

The judge found the convicts, Nasir and Akram, guilty of being involved in shooting to death of city warden Abid, his friend Muhammad Atiq and an eight-year-old girl, Tasbeeha.

The court also sentenced them to seven years imprisonment for possessing illicit arms.

According to the prosecution, the assailants riding a motorbike opened fire on the mobile van of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s city wardens near Imambargah Zainul Abidin close to Nagin Chowrangi on April 5, 2016 and escaped.

Three occupants of the van had received multiple bullet wounds and were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors declared Abid and Atiq dead. Later, Atiq’s daughter Tasbeeha died during treatment.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2018