HYDERABAD, Jan 10: Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, facing capital punishment in the kidnapping-cum-murder case of US journalist Daniel Pearl, was shifted to the Hyderabad central jail on Monday , assistant jail superintendent Shahab Siddiqui confirmed to Dawn.

It is learnt that Omer Sheikh was brought from the Karachi airport to the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, in a helicopter and then taken to the prison amid tight security. He has been lodged in the same cell where he had been kept with other convicts in the case, Salman Saqib, Fahad Naseem and Sheikh Adil.

Omer Sheikh was shifted to the Adiyala prison on Jan 18, 2004,although it was not officially announced. His counsel had filed an application before the Sindh High Court principal seat, challenging his shifting from Hyderabad.

Appeals of Omer Sheikh and other convicts against their sentences are also pending in Karachi.