QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court on Tuesday handed former MPA Abdul Majeed Achakzai a ten-year sentence in a case regarding the death of a traffic policeman in a hit-and-run incident.

A division bench comprising Justice Muhammad Amir Nawaz Rana and Justice Abdul Qayyum Lehr allowed an appeal filed by the provincial government against Achakzai’s acquittal and set aside the local court decision dated September 4, 2020.

Achakzai was convicted under Section 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khata by rash or negligent driving) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for causing the death of Traffic Sub-Inspector Haji Attaullah.

He was also ordered to pay diyat to the legal heirs of the deceased. Furthermore, the court directed the learned Additional Sessions Judge-VI, Quetta, to issue non-bailable warrants for Achakzai’s immediate arrest.

Traffic sergeant Ataullah was killed when a fast-moving vehicle hit him at GPO Chowk in Quetta in June 2017. The ex-lawmaker was returning from the Balochistan Assem­­bly after attending a session when the vehicle hit the traffic policeman, who was performing his duty at the place.

He suffered serious injuries and later died at the hospital.

Initially, police had registered an accident case against unidentified persons. But after the CCTV footage of the accident went viral on social media and was repeatedly shown by TV channels, Balochistan police decided to lodge a manslaughter case against the former MPA, who belongs to the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

He was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) six months later. However, in 2020, a local court in Quetta acquitted him in the case. Subsequently, Quetta police filed an app­eal filed against the acquittal.

Achakzai is a close relative of opposition leader and PkMAP chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai. He was elected to the Balochistan Assembly twice and remained a minister in the provincial cabinet. He also served as chairman of the provincial assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.