PESHAWAR
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Saturday convicted a man for killing an under-trial blasphemy accused inside a courtroom at the Peshawar Judicial Complex over four years ago and sentenced him to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs one million.
Official sources informed that the ATC judge pronounced the order inside the Peshawar Central Prison, where the trial of the case was conducted due to security reasons.
The judge declared that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused Khalid Faisal, who was around 17 years old at the time of occurrence, and the evidence on record connected him with the commission of the offence.
The accused was found guilty of the offence both under section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The court, however, acquitted two of the co-accused, a cleric named Wasiullah and a lawyer Tufail Zia, due to lack of evidence.
The trial of the prime accused was conducted by the ATC judge in his capacity as judge of the juvenile court.
The prosecution had claimed that the accused Wasiullah had instigated the prime accused for the commission of the offence, whereas the lawyer Tufail Zia had taken the pistol, used in the offence, from Wasiullah to the court and handed it over to the prime accused.
The deceased, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, a 57-year-old US citizen, had been arrested over two years prior to the occurrence on charges of committing blasphemy.
