TAXILA: A court on Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his brother Javed Khan over a trivial dispute involving cigarettes, police said.

The convict, Nadir Khan, was also ordered to pay Rs500,000 as compensation to the victim’s family. Police revealed that the crime stemmed from a petty argument after Javed’s son refused to give Nadir cigarettes, which enraged him and led to the fatal attack.

The incident occurred in September 2024 and was registered at Wah Cantt police station. Police said the conviction was secured due to strong evidence and effective prosecution.

Separately, a special court for the Control of Narcotic Substances (CNS) in Taxila sentenced an accused in a drug peddling case to nine years in prison.

The accused, Zahir Shah, was arrested by Taxila police in April this year in a case registered under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotics Substances Act 1997, after 1.48kg of hashish were recovered from his possession.

The judge announced the verdict after hearing arguments from both the defence and prosecution. Shah was found guilty of selling drugs and was sentenced to nine years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs80,000.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2025