KARACHI, April 26: A sessions court on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in a murder case.

The court found Mohammad Javed guilty of killing his colleague Ghulam Rasool over a petty dispute in August 2006 within the remit of the Artillery Maidan police station.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (south) Sagheer Ahmed Sheikh, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex located in the Karachi central prison, pronounced his verdict after recording testimonies of witnesses and final arguments from both sides.

The court in its verdict observed that all the witnesses testified against the accused in the case and assigned his role in the commissioning of the offence.

The crime weapon was found in the possession of the accused and he was also arrested at the place of the incident, it added.

It further stated that the ballistic and medical reports had corroborated with the evidence of the witnesses and further strengthened the case of the prosecution.

Therefore, the prosecution successfully proved its case against the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt, the verdict concluded.

According to the prosecution, the accused and the victim were security guards at an office in the PIDC building and they had a row and scuffled with each other over a minor dispute on Aug 20, 2006 and the following day the accused gunned down the victim at their workplace. The accused was arrested at the crime-scene and the weapon was found in his custody.

A case (FIR 186/06) was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of the victim's brother at the Artillery Maidan police station.

The accused was produced in court in custody and the judge remanded him back to prison along with the conviction warrant to serve out the remainder of his sentence.