Sarfaraz Shah case: SHC retains ATC death penalty for Rangers man

Published January 21, 2014
On May 30, 2013 the SHC had reserved its ruling over the appeals filed by the accused against their conviction. — File Photo
On May 30, 2013 the SHC had reserved its ruling over the appeals filed by the accused against their conviction. — File Photo

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday rejected the appeals filed by accused Rangers personnel against their respective convictions in the Sarfaraz Shah murder case by an anti-terrorist court, DawnNews reported.

The court retained the ATC's ruling of sentencing Shahid Zafar to death after finding him guilty of pulling the trigger.

Moreover, the SHC acquitted another accused Lance Naik Liaquat Ali.

Also today, the court rejected the application filed by Shah’s brothers on behalf of all legal heirs of the victim to enter into a compromise with the convicts.

On May 30, 2013, the SHC had reserved its ruling on the appeals filed by the accused against their convictions.

Sarfraz Shah was shot at and then left to die inside the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Karachi's Clifton area on June 8, 2011.

The fatal shooting was filmed by a cameraman and broadcast on television, sparking a public backlash over the brutality of trained officers.

Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, Constables Mohammad Tariq, Manthar Ali, Shahid Zafar and Afzal Khan of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, and a private contractor, Afsar Khan, were tried in the case.

The anti-terrorist court on Aug 12, 2011 had sentenced Shahid Zafar to death, first time that a civilian court in Pakistan sentenced to death a serving member of the military, and handed life terms to five other paramilitary soldiers and a civilian who had accused Shah of robbery and dragged him over to them.

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