–Victim’s father submits affidavit in support convicts’ bail application
KARACHI: Shahrukh Jatoi and three other accused in the Shahzeb Khan murder case have been freed on bail after Aurangzeb Khan, the victim’s father, filed an affidavit in support of the convicts’ bail application in the court.
According to details, Aurangzeb Khan appealed to the court to not only release on bail the four men convicted of his son’s murder but also requested that the case against them be dropped altogether.
In a previous hearing of the case, the sessions court had ordered Shahzeb’s family to submit the pardon documents as verified by the high court.
The sessions court had also sought a verified copy of the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) order to revoke the punishments against the accused.
As per the court’s orders, Aurangzeb had appeared on Saturday to submit a copy of the pardon. The report on the SHC order to revoke the ATC’s sentence, however, was not presented at the hearing.
Aurangzeb claimed that after Jatoi and his accomplices were awarded a death sentence by an ATC, he, with consent of his family, had reconciled with the convicts.
Aurangzeb Khan also stated in his affidavit that with the consent of his family members, he has reached a compromise with the family of the convicts and has pardoned the murder of his son in the name of God, hence he has no objection on the bail plea of convicts.
Rs 250 million deal:
According to sources, the family of Shahzeb Khan after a purported monetary settlement pardoned all convicts in the case.
The family allegedly accepted a Rs 250 million deal that included getting Australian residential visas and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aurangzeb Khan, father of the slain Shahzeb Khan, getting special favour in the police department.
Soon after the reports of the alleged deal began surfacing, the Sindh government transferred DSP Aurangzeb Khan to the lucrative position of Clifton driving licence in-charge with immediate effect.
As per reports, the family submitted a miscellaneous application with the Sindh High Court and informed that they have forgiven the convict who may be acquitted by the court.
Shahzeb Khan murder case:
Shahzeb Khan was gunned down by Shahrukh Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal, on December 24, 2012, in Karachi’s Defence Housing Society.
An anti-terrorism court in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.
Subsequently, the convicts challenged their sentences in the Sindh High Court.
Jatoi, the key suspect, challenged his sentence on the ground that he was a juvenile at the time of committing the crime and hence could not be tried under the anti-terrorism law.
The SHC appellate bench overturned their sentences and sent the case back to a sessions court to conduct the trial of the suspects afresh in it’s November 28, 2017’s verdict
The appellants argued that the crime didn’t come within the ambit of the anti-terrorism law and they should have been tried by an ordinary court instead of an anti-terrorism court.
