PESHAWAR, March 3: A local anti-terrorism court on Saturday convicted a man of killing a banned organisation’s provincial secretary and sentenced him to death with a fine of Rs one million.

Judge Asghar Ali Shah said the prosecution had proved the Aslam Farouqi killing case against Sabih Hussain.

He, however, acquitted two other accused persons identified as Fahad Ali and Syed Abid Ali Zaidi for lack of evidence.

The prime accused, Sabih Hussain, was arrested soon after the killing on August 12, 2007. He was caught red-handed by relatives of Mr Farouqi, a leader of the proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), after he fired gunshots at him and was trying to escape from the place of occurrence at Mohallah Naqshbandi in Kohati area.

The FIR of the murder registered at Shah Qabool police station charged the accused under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code.

Police suspected that the killing was outcome of a conflict between the two sects.

They later arrested the two other accused claiming that during interrogation, the prime accused named them as their accomplices. Both of them were later freed after the Peshawar High Court granted them bail.

The counsel for the complainant argued that the accused was caught on the spot, while the weapon used in the killing was also recovered from him. He said the said weapon was sent for chemical examination that showed that bullets were fired from it.

The trial was conducted inside the Peshawar Central Prison due to sensitivity of the matter. —Bureau Report