Data Darbar bombing facilitator sentenced to death by Lahore ATC

Published November 28, 2019
A police vehicle badly damaged in the blast near Data Darbar in Lahore on May 8. — Photo courtesy Punjab Police/File
A police vehicle badly damaged in the blast near Data Darbar in Lahore on May 8. — Photo courtesy Punjab Police/File

An antiterrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday convicted and sentenced to death the facilitator of the Data Darbar suicide bombing on May 8 that had left 12 people, including five Elite Force personnel, dead.

The convict, Mohsin Khan, was sentenced to death on 22 counts — 11 under the Pakistan Penal Code and 11 under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) — and to life imprisonment under the Explosive Substance Act.

Additionally, the convict has been ordered to pay compensation "at the rate of Rs0.4 million per murder" to the heirs of the deceased and Rs50,000 to each of the injured in the attack.

The case was registered on a complaint of the counterterrorism department. During today's hearing, the court ruled that the convict's crime had been proven by the prosecution.

According to prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo, Mohsin and the suicide bomber had entered Pakistan from Afghanistan through Torkham on May 6. "Both belonged to a banned outfit," the prosecutor told the court.

He said that explosive material was found in the convict's possession when he was captured.

Retracing the events of the bombing, the prosecutor said that on May 8, at around 8:45am, the bomber had blown himself up near gate 2 of the Data Darbar shrine, near a vehicle of the Elite Force. "Eleven people, including security personnel, had been killed, and 30 had been left injured," he said.

The prosecutor said that Mohsin hails from Shabqadar tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda district.

Both the facilitator and the bomber had arrived in Lahore on May 8 and had acquired residence near the shrine.

Mohsin was arrested by the CTD on May 21. He is being held in Lahore's Central Jail.

His death sentence "shall not be executed till its confirmation by the Lahore High Court", according to the ATC judgment.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.