Shahrukh Jatoi sentenced to death

An Anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday awarded death sentences to the key accused, Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur, in the Shahzeb Khan murder case while the other two accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.

After examining the statements of the 23 witnesses in case, Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of ATC-III read out the verdict convicting all four accused.

According to the judgment, the court has penalised all four with Rs 500,000 fine while Sajjad Talpur and Murtaza Lashari will serve an additional one-year imprisonment for harassing Shahzeb’s sister under section 354 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Shahrukh Jatoi will serve extra three years under section 13(e) of Pakistan Arms Ordinance, for possessing an illegal weapon

Shahzeb Khan, 20, was shot dead on the night between December 24 and 25 last year. Seven people including Shahrukh Jatoi, Nawab Siraj Talpur, his brother Sajjad Talpur and their employee Murtaza Lashari were booked in the murder case.

However, the court declared Asif Lund, Suleman Jatoi, Nawab Ali Jatoi and Khurram Muhammad as absconders since they are still at large.

Under anti-terrorism laws, cases are decided within seven days but proceedings in this case were completed in two months and 20 days given the complex nature of the case.

During the course of trial, the ATC had upheld its decision of declaring key accused Shahrukh Jatoi an adult, after reviewing the ossification report and other documentary evidence.

In a TV interview, Shahzeb Khan’s sister said an example should be set while deciding the case, so that no influential person would dare torture a common man.

She rejected all reports about her family willing to strike a deal with the accused, by accepting blood money. She dubbed such reports an effort to vilify her family.

Aurangzeb Khan, the father of Shahzeb said on Friday that justice had been served after the ATC awarded death sentences to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siarj Talpur.

He thanked the media and people for their support. “The children of the rich are not bad; it is their upbringing which is at fault,” he said.

According to reports, as soon as the judgment was announced, Jatoi’s brother got into an argument with the judges and had to be escorted out from court premises.

Due to the incident, the detailed judgment of the case could not be signed by the accused and they were sent away. They were later called back to court premises and were asked to sign the judgment. The accused were then taken to central jail.

Later, the family of the accused said they would file an appeal against the court’s judgment. Jatoi’s lawyer said he would file an appeal within seven days of the court’s judgment. According to him, the investigation in the case was flawed from the very beginning.

On recommendation of the prosecutor, the court issued a show-cause notice to the case’s first investigation officer Sub-Inspector Nafees Ahmed for defective investigation, directing him to explain why legal proceedings should not be initiated against him under law. Ahmed was considered dishonest and inefficient by the court.