KARACHI, Nov 28: A sessions court on Wednesday sentenced a man to death in a murder case.

The court found Syed Abbas Ali Shah guilty of killing Amjad Hussain within the remit of the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station in November 2009.

A brother of the convict, Syed Ali Shah, who was a co-accused in the case, was acquitted for want of evidence.

The court in its judgment observed that two independent witnesses had specifically deposed against the accused by assigning his role in the commissioning of the crime and that they were subjected to a lengthy cross-examination, but their evidence remained reliable on material points.

It further ruled that the medical and documentary evidence had been corroborated by the testimonies of the witnesses while the weapon used in the crime was also recovered from the possession of the accused.

The charge of killing the man against the accused stood proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, the judgment said.

However, it ruled that the case of the co-accused was on a different footing since the key witnesses had not testified against him while the prosecution was also unable to bring any solid material evidence against him on record.

According to the prosecution, Faqir Hussain was a nephew of deceased Amjad Hussain and the accused snatched a mobile phone from Faqir Hussain on Nov 24 in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

However, Faqir Hussain identified the robber as they lived in the same area. Faqir Hussain informed his uncle about the incident. Amjad Hussain and his nephew went after the accused and found him and his brother at a medical store in the area and asked him to return the cellphone, but he opened fire after a heated argument with the deceased. Later, the injured succumbed to his wounds, it added.

The court sent the convict back to prison along with a conviction warrant, but ruled that the death sentence was subject to the confirmation of high court.