KARACHI, Aug 31: Anti-terrorism courts on Friday handed down life imprisonment sentences in two separate cases of kidnapping and murder, and kidnapping for ransom.
Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of ATC-1 awarded life imprisonment sentences on two counts to Asif Brohi, son of Mir Gul Brohi, for the kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Mohammed Faisal.
Meanwhile, Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of ATC-V sentenced Sheraz Ahmed, son of A.D. Shahid, and Qari Ghulam Yasin, son of Khuda Bux, to life imprisonment in the kidnapping for ransom case of SSC student Rashid.
Asif Brohi, whose trial was being conducted by Judge Samtio, was convicted for offence under Section 7(a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and fined Rs100,000 with an additional six months’ imprisonment in case of failure to pay the fine. The second life imprisonment term was awarded for offence under Section 7(e) of the ATA 1997, and the court also ordered forfeiture of Brohi’s property to the limit of Rs200,000. The prisoner was given the benefit of Section 383-B of the Criminal Procedures Code and escaped the death sentence since he is under-age.
The court ruled that both sentences would be served concurrently, without rigorous physical labour and subject to the provisions of Sections 2(b) and 12 of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000.
In the second trial being conducted by Judge Baloch, Sheraz Ahmed and Qari Yasin were convicted under Section 265-H(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code for the offence punishable under Section 7(e) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, read with Section 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code and were awarded life imprisonment. They were also convicted for offence under Section 6(1)(b) of the ATA, punishable under Section(i), and sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs5,000 each.
Brought to the courtroom under tight police security, the pair remained silent as the verdict was delivered.
Kidnapping with murder
The prosecution argued that Brohi, with absconding co-accused Aijaz and Imran Ali, kidnapped seven-year-old Mohammed Faisal on November 29, 2006, from Dawood Goth. They demanded a ransom of Rs400,000 from the child’s maternal uncle Mohammed Ashfaq, with whom the mother of the victim lived.
After negotiations, the kidnappers agreed to accept Rs35,000 and received the sum from the victim’s family. Instead of releasing the boy, however, they strangled him on November 30 and threw his body in a well near Memon Goth, Gadap Town.
FIR No 214/06 under Section 302 and 356-A of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered at the Malir City police station.
Brohi was arrested on December 21, 2006, with the help of mobile phone companies that traced the SIMs he was using to negotiate with the victim’s family. On the accused man’s indication, Faisal’s body was recovered on December 22 in the presence of local elders, elected representatives, official representatives and the victim’s relatives.
The court indicted Asif Brohi on July 18, 2007, but he pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa pleaded that the depositions of witnesses and police investigation had proved that Brohi and his accomplices had kidnapped and killed the boy. He contended that the accused should be awarded death sentences on two counts, one for kidnapping the boy for ransom and the other for killing him.
Kidnapping for ransom
According to the prosecution, Sheraz Ahmed and Qari Yasin, along with absconding co-accused Zahoor Ahmed Shah and Ghalib (now declared proclaimed offenders), kidnapped Rashid, son of Qadir Bux Brohi, from Hub River Road on November 15, 2006, and kept him somewhere in the limits of the Manghopir police station.
They demanded Rs10 million in ransom but Rashid’s family negotiated the sum down to Rs2 million. The money was handed over in Islamabad’s Nawaz Sharif Park and the student was released.
FIR No. 147/06 was registered under Section 365-A/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 ATC 1997 at the Manghopir police station.
Ahmed and Yasin were arrested on February 28 this year from their residence in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri for suspected involvement in other cases. Later, the kidnap victim identified his abductors during an identification parade. The accused men were indicted on July 8 but pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
The public prosecutor counter-argued that the victim had identified his abductors in an identification parade held in the court of judicial magistrate Ashfaq Mughal. He told the court that the accused men were habitual criminals who were involved in another kidnapping for ransom case and had received Rs 500,000 for the release of another person. The prosecutor argued that the depositions of police inspector Zafar Iqbal, the judicial magistrate and the victim Rashid were proof of the accused men’s guilt and that police uniforms, which they used to commit crimes, had also been recovered from their possession.