PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court here on Thursday convicted two doctors and awarded them death sentence for kidnapping their doctor friend for ransom and subsequently stabbing him to death.

ATC judge Sabir Khan pronounced that the prosecution had proved its case against the two accused persons named Dr Ahmad Ali and Dr Haseeb Anwer and the evidence on record connected them with the commission of the offence. A third accused in the case, Habibur Rehman, was also convicted and was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment.

Senior advocate Syed Abdul Fayyaz appeared for the complainant Mohammad Ashfaq, father of the deceased Dr Salman Shahzad, and contended that there was incontrovertible evidence against the accused persons. He contended that the accused had kidnapped Dr Shahzad and killed him in a brutal manner. He stated that the deceased was a doctor at the Children Hospital Danishabad, Peshawar, and had left home in the afternoon of Dec 20, 2015, stating that he was going to attend a feast arranged by his friend Dr Ahmad Ali.

Syed Fayyaz stated that the deceased had not returned and his family had received a call from accused persons demanding a ransom of Rs10 million for his release. He added that the caller had threatened that they should not disclose it to anyone otherwise Dr Shahzad would be killed.

He stated that initially the FIR was registered under section 365-A of Pakistan Penal Code on Dec 20, 2015. He added that Ahmad Ali was arrested on Dec 21, 2015, and on his pointation the body of Dr Shahzad was recovered near Risalpur.

The counsel argued that the prime accused, Ahmad Ali, had also confessed to his guilt before a magistrate and had stated that he and Dr Anwer had kidnapped the deceased for ransom. He stated that the deceased was around 30 and was stabbed to death, therefore, the accused persons did not deserve any leniency.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2018