KARACHI: An anti-narcotics court sentenced on Saturday three men to life imprisonment in a drug trafficking case.

The court found Sajjad Naeem, Mohammad Ashfaq and Mohammad Iqbal guilty of transporting over 50 kilos of heroin powder in Feb 1999 within the remit of the Gizri police station.

The court, however, acquitted a fourth accused, Jahanzab, for want of evidence.

Judge Sanaullah Khan Ghory of the Special Court-II for Control of Narcotic Substances pronounced his verdict after recording evidence of witnesses and final arguments from both sides.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs1 million each and in case of non-payment the convicts would have to undergo an additional three-year imprisonment.

The verdict said that the prosecution brought confidence-inspiring evidence before the court and the case against accused Sajjad Naeem, Ashfaq and Iqbal regarding their arrest and recovery of heroin from them and a vehicle that was in their custody was fully supported by the prosecution witnesses.

The witnesses were subjected to lengthy cross-examination, but their evidence remained unshaken, it added.

From the perusal of evidence of five witnesses and documentary evidence about the recovery of heroin, the charges against the accused persons had been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, it added.

However, the court ruled that the case of accused Jahanzab was different as he was neither arrested on the spot nor was any recovery made from his possession.

According to the prosecution, acting on spy information a team of the Gizri police station intercepted a vehicle in the Defence Housing Authority on Feb 13, 1999 and arrested Sajjad Naeem, Ashfaq and Iqbal. The police recovered a total of 53-kg heroin from the possession of the accused as well as from the car being used by them to transport the drug, it added.

The investigation of the case was transferred to the Anti-Narcotics Force. Later, a fourth accused was also arrested.

A case (FIR 33/99) was registered against the accused under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 1997 at the Gizri police station.

All the accused, who had been enlarged on bail, were present in court on Saturday and after the pronouncement of the verdict they were taken into custody and the court sent them to prison along with their conviction warrants to serve out the sentence.

Two sent to prison in child rape, murder caseTwo men allegedly involved in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl were remanded in prison custody by the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts on Saturday.

Police said the suspects were arrested on Dec 20, 2011 during an attempted abduction of another minor girl within the remit of the Jauharabad police station and the next day they were handed over to police on physical remand till Dec 31, 2011.

The investigation officer produced the suspects before the administrative judge of the ATCs, Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court, on Saturday.

The court sent the suspects in jail custody on judicial remand till Jan 3, 2012 and directed the investigation officer to submit a charge-sheet on the next hearing.

According to the prosecution, the suspects allegedly abducted the girl within the remit of the Jauharabad police station on Dec 16 and killed her and dumped her body in Block 2, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, after sexually assaulting her. The police found the corpse on Dec 14.

A case (FIR 261/11) was registered under Sections 302 (punishment for premeditated murder), 364-A (abduction under the age of ten) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7of the Anti-terrorism Act. Later, Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the PPC was also incorporated in the FIR.

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate (central) on Saturday also remanded the same suspects in police custody for alleged abduction of an underage girl till Jan 3 and directed the IO to file a charge-sheet.

The suspects were booked for abducting a minor girl within the remit of the Jauharabad police station on Dec 20.

A case (FIR 267/11) was registered under Sections 364-A (abduction under the age of 10) and 34 (common intention) of the PPC.