KARACHI: A model court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment in a murder case.

The accused Saeed and his two sons Owais and Noor Mohammad were found guilty of abducting and murdering 22-year-old Azhar Ali over a petty dispute in Korangi Industrial Area in April 2020.

Additional district and sessions’ Judge Haleem Ahmed of the model criminal trial court (East) also ordered them to pay Rs500,000 each as compensation to the legal heirs of the victim. On default, they would undergo an additional imprisonment for six months each.

State prosecutor Mohammad Anwar Mahar contended that the accused persons fought with the victim over some dispute. On the day of the incident, they abducted Azhar Ali while he was returning home after offering Isha prayers and shot him dead.

He further contended that the victim was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors pronounced him dead.

On the other hand, the defence counsel denied the allegations and claimed innocence on the part of their clients.

A case was registered under the Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) at the Korangi Industrial Area police station on the complaint of the victim’s brother, Abdul Majid.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2021