اردو
  • SHC orders review of terrorism charges in Shahzeb Khan murder case

    • Last modified on
    • Published in Sindh
    Shahrukh Jatoi File photo Shahrukh Jatoi

    The Shahzeb Khan murder case from 2012 when a young man in Karachi’s posh locality was gunned down by the son of an influential feudal took a new twist on Tuesday.

    The convicts, Shahrukh Jatoi had appealed against the death sentence handed to him before a two-member bench of the Sindh High Court. Upon hearing the arguments the bench has sent the case back to the sessions court with directives to review whether the Anti-Terrorism Act charges that resulted in a death sentence for Jatoi were applicable or not.

    During the hearing on Tuesday the Sindh Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan informed the court that the plaintiff has withdrawn from the case. The court observed that the parties involved in the case have already reached a compromise, noting that only the Anti-Terrorism Act charges in the case need to be reviewed.

    Shahzeb Khan, 20, was shot dead on the night between December 24 and 25 in 2012. Seven people including Shahrukh Jatoi, Nawab Siraj Talpur his brother Sajjad Talpur and their employee Murtaza Lashari were booked in the murder case.

    An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in 2013 awarded death sentences to the key accused, Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur in the murder case while the other two accused were awarded life imprisonment.

    According to the 2013 judgment, the court penalized all four accused with Rs 500,000 fine while Sajjad Talpur and Murtaza Lashari were ordered to serve an additional one-year imprisonment for harassing Shahzeb’s sister.

    However, the parents of the deceased Shahzeb Khan decided to pardon the culprits responsible for the murder of their son. The family filed an affidavit with the court pardoning the men accused of killing their only son.

    The victim’s parents – father Deputy Superintendent of Police Aurangzeb Khan and mother Ambreen Aurangzeb – also requested for the release of the four perpetrators involved.

    Speaking to a private news channel in 2013, the victim’s mother Ambreen Aurangzeb reportedly said that: “we may not have forgiven them in our hearts, but we have pardoned our son’s killers in the name of Allah.We cannot spend our entire lives in fear… we took the decision considering the circumstances.”