Sarfaraz Shah case: Rangers constable gets death sentence; six awarded life term

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) headed by Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso on Friday awarded death sentence to accused Shahid Zafar, constable of Sindh Rangers and gave life term to six remaining accused in Sarfaraz Shah murder case.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 0.2 million on Shahid Zafar, and a Rs 0.1 million fine to the co-accused, which will be paid to the heirs of the deceased as compensation. All accused were present in the court. The convicts may file appeal against the judgement in the Sindh High Court within seven days.
The Boat Basin Police had on June 09 registered a case (FIR 227/2011) under Section 302 and 43 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) initially against two constables of Sindh Rangers Mohammad Afzal and Shahid Zafar on complaint of the victim's elder brother Salik Shah.
On June 10, the Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo-moto notice of the incident and appointed DIG West Sultan Ali Khawaja as inquiry officer in the case. About the cases (FIRs No 225 and 226 of 2011), which was registered against Sarfaraz Shah after the incident that he was armed and killed in encounter with Rangers personnel in a park, Clifton area.
The entire episode took a U-turn only after the footage was telecast by News Channels. On the directives of apex court, investigation team headed by DIG West Sultan Khawaja began probe and incorporated Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, in the FIR (227/2011) registered against the Rangers personnel. The family of the victim expressed satisfaction over the decision of the court in this regard.