PESHAWAR, Sept 9: A murder convict, Israr Mohammad, was executed in the central prison on Tuesday morning.

Israr, 32, was awarded capital punishment by the Peshawar High Court for killing a person, Shahabuddin, in 1993. His appeals were dismissed by the Supreme Court. His mercy petition was also dismissed by the president of Pakistan.

He was executed at about 5.30am. The body was handed over to his family. The superintendent of the prison supervised the execution.

His family members claimed that they did not have money to pay as diyat to Shahabuddin’s heirs.

Shahabuddin used to run a small-time hotel in Qissa Khwani Bazaar. The police claimed that Israr was a hired assassin. Israr, however, stated that his friends, Zareen and Ameen, had enmity with Shahabuddin and he was asked by them to kill him.

Initially, the additional district and sessions judge sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Peshawar High Court in 1998 set aside the verdict and awarded him death penalty which was upheld by the Supreme Court.