RAWALPINDI, Dec 9: Anti-Terrorism Court No 1 Judge Manzoor Ahmed on Thursday awarded death sentence to four convicts in Shah-i-Najaf firing case. Those who got the death sentence are Habibullah, Fazal Hameed, Hafiz Naseer Ahmed and Tahir Mehmood.

The convicts will also have to pay a fine of Rs0.5 million each. In case of non- payment, they will have to undergo an additional one year of jail term. Qari Ashraf Ali, from whose possession a motorbike used in the incident had been recovered, was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment.

The judge declared 12 accused as proclaimed offenders. They are Akram Lahori, currently in police custody in Karachi, Usman Chootha, Aziz Hussain, Arshad Satti, Qari Gul Mohammad, Abdul Wahab, Kaleemullah, Saifur Rehman, Qari Nazakat, Jamshed, Sajjad and Mohammad Ajmal.

Five of the accused, Iqrar Abbassi, Mujeebur Rehman, Mubarik Hussain, Mohammad Suhail and Mohammad Abdullah, were acquitted. The verdict was announced at Adiala Jail, where the court had been hearing the case because of security reasons. As many as 52 witnesses testified before the court during the course of hearing.

On February 26, 2002 gunmen sprayed bullets on the faithful offering Magrib prayers at Shah-i-Najaf Mosque in Khayaban-i-Sir Syed. A total of 13 people were killed and many were critically injured. On December 9, 2002, challan was presented before the court, while accused were indicted on March 13, 2003.