Convicts should have been given death penalty, says deceased JUI-F leader’s son
SUKKUR: Six convicts were awarded double life imprisonment by the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sukkur on Friday in the murder case of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Khalid Mehmood Soomr.
The accused were also jailed for seven years for illegal possession of arms and fined over Rs 1 million each for their crimes.
Justice Abdul Rehman Qazi announced the decision in a brief verdict at the Sukkur Central Jail, where security was tight. The court reserved its decision on December 13 after extensive proceedings involving more than 450 hearings and testimony from 17 witnesses. The convicts, identified as Hanif Bhutto, Sarang Totani, Mushtaq Mehr, Darya Khan Jamali, Altaf Jamali and Latif Jamali, were accused of killing Soomra on November 29, 2014.
They have been in custody since December 2014.
Family members of the victim, who was also a former senator, including Rashid Mehmood Soomr and local JUI-F leaders were present in the court during the verdict.
The convicts should have been given the death penalty, said Rashid, son of the late JUI-F leader. “We will now knock on the door of the High Court,” he vowed.
Dr Soomro, who was the party’s general secretary at the time, was offering his morning prayers when unidentified gunmen entered the mosque and shot him dead.
