Amjad Sabri’s killer sentenced to death in three more killings

KARACHI – An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) sentenced Qawwal Amjad Sabri’s murderer Ishaq alias Bobby, a member of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, to death in a sectarian killing case, The News reported on Sunday.

This is the third capital sentence Ishaq has been handed in one month.

The ATC found him guilty of a shoot and run in Korangi on August 23, 2014 that left Syed Zakir Hussain, Muhammad Nawaz, and Muhammad Younus dead. He had been on the run until he was caught in November 2016. He was also fined Rs 50,000 and a 10-year imprisonment sentence apart from a payment of Rs 200,000 in compensation to the heirs of each victim. Failure to do so would mean another six months of imprisonment.

Ishaq and his accomplice Asim alias Capri face multiple trials in anti-terrorism courts. They have also been convicted by a military court for the murders of Military Police personnel and the renowned qawwal, Amjad Sabri. Ishaq and an accomplice had shot at Sabri and three members of his family in their vehicle in Liaqatabad in June 2016.

An MQM worker who had been in custody had earlier told the police that six teams had been formed to kill the maestro because he had refused to pay extortion money. He had admitted that four of the teams had been tasked with recon on Sabri and two were professional target killers.

The Counter-Terrorism Department described Ishaq and his accomplices as professional hitmen, experts in killing their targets in public and radicalised from a tender age.