BAHAWALPUR: Announcing the verdict in a kidnap and murder case on Tuesday, Bahawalpur District and Sessions Judge Zubair Shehzad Kiani handed down a death sentence to a man, besides a total 18-year jail term, along with a Rs550,000 fine.

The co-accused in the case was handed down a four-year rigorous imprisonment, with a Rs50,000 fine.

According to the prosecution, the convict, Baqaullah, a resident of the Small Industrial Estate area, Bahawalpur, had kidnapped and later killeda man, Muhammad Kamran,over a monetary dispute, with the help of his accomplice, Ihsan.

Bahawalpur Saddar police, on the complaint ofthe victim’s brother, Adnan, had registeredFIR No.42/25under sections 302, 364, 201/34 of the PPC against them onJan 17, 2025.

Co-accused sentenced to four-year RI; both also slapped with fines

The police later arrested Baqaullah and Ihsan, and submitted the case challan in the court.

The court awarded the death sentence, along with Rs400,000 fine to Baqaullah, with orders that the fine amount would be paid to the victim’s legal heirs. The killer was also handed down a life term,with Rs100,000 finefor kidnapping the victim.

The court, under Section 201 of the PPC,sentenced Baqaullah to four-year imprisonment, with a Rs50,000fine. All sentences will run concurrently

The judge sentenced the co-accused, Ihsan, to four-year rigorous imprisonment, with a Rs50,000 fine, ordering that in case of default on fine payment the convict will have to serve a further six-month term.

IMPERSONATOR HELD: Bahawalpur Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) officials got a youth arrested for allegedly impersonating a matriculation examination candidate at the Donga Bonga Higher Secondary School exam centre in Bahawalnagar district.

According to the BISE, the suspect, identified asAfzal, allegedly appeared in the matriculation examination, in place of a candidate, Sadaqat Ali, Roll No 502555in the mathematics paper on Monday.

During the exam, the supervisory staff checked the identity of Afzal and found him to be an impersonator. He was handed over to the police, and a case was registered against him.

TRADERS PROTEST: Local traders, lawyers and politicians on Tuesday protested the alleged ill treatment and exploitation of shopkeepers at the hands of the officials of the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) and the Bahawalpur administration during the enforcement of “smart lockdown” at shopping areas and markets.

Representatives of Bahawalpur Anjuman-e-Tajran, bar associations, political parties and civil society, at a press conference at Bahawalpur Press Club, alleged that city assistant commissioner and his staff have been harassing and exploiting the traders on the pretext of enforcing early closure of shops and other businesses.

They alleged that some of the shopkeepers were even subjected to physical torture and humiliation during the enforcement of smart lockdown, besides being slapped with unjustified heavy fines. They announced a boycott of the administration till the transfer of the city AC.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026