GUJRANWALA: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday awarded death penalty on two counts to two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi activists for killing Senior Superintendent Police Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf Marth and his driver.
Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq also imposed Rs 50,000 fine each on Ghulam Rasool and Abu Bakar alias Usman of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The victim SSP was a relative of Pakistan Muslim League leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Shujaat was interior minister when Marth was gunned down.
Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Bahawalnagar, and Abu Bakar alias Usman, a resident of Haroonabad, will undergo imprisonment for an additional year, if they failed to pay their respective fines, which if recovered would be handed over to the families of their victims.
Abdul Rauf s/o Sanaullah and Shabbir Hussain s/o Talib Hussain were sentenced to life imprisonment and Rs 50,000 each in fine for conspiring with the killers. The fine if recovered would be handed over to the bereaved families and injured security guard, Shakeel.
The court acquitted Malik Muhammad Ishaq and Qari Muhammad Ishaq on the benefit of doubt. With one accused already killed in police encounter, four others -- Riaz Basra, Shakil, Anwar Aziz and Obaid -- were declared proclaimed offenders in the case.
According to prosecution, the accused shot dead SSP Ashraf Marth and his driver Tabbasum Zamir as they were coming out of the SSP residence. SSP gunmen Shakil Ahmed and Tariq Javed were wounded in the attack on May 6, 1997.
Marth's killing was believed to be the outcome of his taking up the case of killings in the Iranian Culture Centre in Multan. The SSP arrested frontline men of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and registered murder case against them.
Police claim arrest of 10 terroristsTOBA TEK SINGH, July 3: Toba police have so far arrested 10 alleged terrorists belonging to the Lashkar Jhangvi since the murder of Shia lawyer Malik Ibrar Husain last month.
SP Amir Zulfiqar Khan told a Press conference on Monday that the arrested terrorists -- Muhammad Tayyab (main killer of lawyer Malik Ibrar), Naveed Akhtar, Mithu Pahlwan, Ghulam Husain Qari Maqbool Ahmed, Ghazanfar Ali, Qari Zahoor Husain, Shahid Ali Shahidi, Manzoor Husain Gujjar and Muhammad Asif - were involved in dozens of sectarian killings.