Karachi’s anti-terrorism court on Monday handed out the verdict in the case pertaining to the murder of Intezar Ahmed, a young man shot dead by Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) police personnel in Karachi’s DHA area in 2018.
An anti-terrorism court has sentenced two policemen to death and five others to life imprisonment after they were found guilty for the murder of Intezar.
Former policemen Bilal and Daniel have been sentenced to death by the court. The court has sentenced five other officials to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 200,000 on each of them. The court acquitted police officer Ghulam Abbas for lack of evidence.
19-year-old Intezar Ahmed was shot dead by anti-car lifting cell personnel at Khayaban Ittehad on January 13, 2018. After which the young man’s father sought justice from the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Army Chief through an appeal Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the incident and a case was registered against the police.
Police had initially maintained that the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) personnel had signalled Intezar to stop the vehicle as it looked suspicious and that the troops had opened fire when the car did not stop, killing Intezar on the spot.
According to the police investigation, 16 bullet casings were recovered from the spot.
A girl was also said to be present in the victim’s car and CCTV footage revealed that she had abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene in a rickshaw. After the footage came to light, Madiha Kayani came forward as an eyewitness in the case.
Kayani told the Karachi Anti-Terrorism Court almost three years later that she and Intezar were returning home after a drive when two policemen signalled them to stop. “When we stopped, a voice from behind us called out and said ‘this is the same vehicle’. After that, the policemen signalled us to leave,” Kayani had told the court.
As soon as Intezar started driving, the policemen opened fire at them. Kiyani said that Intezar was shot dead instantly by the bullets and the car hit a gutter and stopped. She said that she feared for her life so she quickly crossed the road, took a rickshaw and fled the scene.
Justice in the Intezar case has been a long time coming since its first hearin 2018.
