An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced two accused to a collective 17 years in jail in connection with a case pertaining to a police encounter, illegal possession of weapons and attempts to murder and absolved two suspects of charges after issuing a notice to an inspector general over “incompetent investigation”.
The court charged Abdul Latif and Mastoi guilty of attempting to murder policemen with the intention to kill when they were stopped for checking at Block 7 near Sunday Bazaar in the vicinity of Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station in July 2015. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined Rs100,000 each.
Separately, they were also found guilty of possessing unlicensed arms and handed down seven years in prison and ordered to pay a fine amounting to Rs50,000 each. However, their accomplices Aqib Baloch and Rehan were acquitted as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them.
A show cause notice was issued to the investigating officer in the case Inspector Qalandar Bux Narejo under Section 27 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 for defective investigation and directed him to submit a reply in court.
“Hence, the IO has himself damaged the case of the prosecution to the extent of Aqib and further failed to trace out the proclaimed offender, Rehan, till date,” the judge said.
