KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has sentenced two men inspired by the militant Islamic State group to life imprisonment in a case pertaining to the killing of a Pakistan Navy officer in 2013.

Accused Saad Aziz alias Tin Tin and Tahir Hussain Minhas alias Saeen were found guilty of murdering Captain Ahmed of the PN and wounding his foreign wife in an armed attack in Karachi.

The judge of the ATC-VIII pronounced the verdict reserved after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

Both the accused, who were sentenced to death by a military court for the 2015 Safoora Goth bus carnage in which around 43 members of the Shia Ismaili community were killed, were produced in court from prison.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each on them and in case of default Aziz would have to undergo an additional six-month imprisonment, while Minhas would have to undergo an additional three-month imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, on Sept 4, 2013 Capt Ahmed, 40, was travelling with his Swedish wife in a car when two gunmen on a motorcycle targeted them. Ahmed died on the spot while his wife suffered bullet wounds, but survived the attack, it added.

It further said that the couple was on their way to the Navy Engineering College on Karsaz Road from their residence when they came under attack. The naval officer and his wife held PhD degrees.

Cop’s murder case

The same court also awarded life imprisonment to accused Saad Aziz in a policeman’s murder case.

According to the prosecution, Constable Waqar Hashmi, who was posted in the Rapid Response Force, was attacked and killed at the Powerhouse Chowrangi in New Karachi’s Sector 11-K when he was returning home from duty on Oct 16, 2014. The assailant fled from the scene, it added.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2021