ISLAMABAD: A local court on Monday awarded capital punishment to two police officials and sentenced three others to life imprisonment in the murder case of Osama Satti.

On January 2, 2021, at around 1:30am, Osama Satti, 21, had gone to drop his friend at H-11. When he was returning, police officials intercepted and fired on his car from all sides on Srinagar Highway at G-10.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Zeba Chaudhry announced the verdict on Monday. The judge found the police officials guilty of killing the young man.

She sentenced Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Mustafa to death and awarded life imprisonment to Saeed Ahmed, Shakeel Ahmed and Muddassir Mukhtar.

The verdict stated: “The sentence of death of accused persons Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Mustafa shall not be executed unless it is confirmed by the Hon’ble Islamabad High Court.”

The judge rejected the plea of the accused that they had opened fire on Satti’s vehicle over apprehensions that he might enter the Red Zone. She observed that the “occurrence happened in the area opposite G-10 from where Red Zone is not only quite far but heavy security is also deployed at the end and start of it.”

Judge rejects plea that youth was fired upon over apprehensions he might enter Red Zone

She added that the youth could have easily been stopped as he was driving a 660cc van while the police officials were in a 2,500cc vehicle.

“Facts and circumstances established that prosecution remained successful in establishing its case that during the moments of hot pursuit the intensity of force used by the accused officials by no means can be termed or measured as reasonable.”

A joint investigation team (JIT) probed the incident and found that the youth was murdered by officials of the Crisis Response Team (CRT) of the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the police. The CRT team, comprising five policemen including a driver, fired at the car of Mr Satti with intention to kill the driver instead of neutralising him.

They fired 19 bullets at the car and all the bullets entered the vehicle from the rear, rear left and rear right sides. The firing was opened from a distance of five to 10 feet and the rear left side and rear right sides were targeted from a distance of 12 feet and 15 feet, respectively.

Besides, a bullet entry was also found at the vehicle’s roof, adding the fire was opened from three weapons - two SMGs and a 9mm pistol.

Majority of the bullets were fired from a height of five feet, the JIT officers said, adding 22 bullet shells were also found in different parts of Sringar Highway, including the crime scene, where the car was stopped.

Four bullets were fired from a 9mm pistol, 17 from an SMG and one from another SMG.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2023