An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sukkur on Friday awarded life imprisonment to six individuals in connection with the murder of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
ATC Judge Abdur Rehman Qazi announced the verdict at Sukkur Central Jail amid tight security measures. The convicts were also sentenced to seven years for weapons charges and slapped with heavy fines for their crimes. All of the inmates were locked up in central Jail Sukkur since 2014.
The JUI leader and former senator was gunned down on November 29, 2014, when he was leaving a mosque attached to a seminary in Sukkur early in the morning in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Sukkur.
The court heard 17 witnesses during more than 450 hearings of the case, verdict of which was reserved on December 13. Security measures were intensified at the Central Jail Sukkur, where the special court convened to announce the decision.
The six accused—Hanif Bhutto, Sarang Totani, Mushtaq Mehr, Darya Khan Jamali, Latif Jamali, and Altaf Jamali—have been in custody since December 2014.
They were convicted of murder and terrorism charges, and each was handed life sentence along with seven years for illegal possession of firearms.
Meanwhile, Maulana Rashid Mahmood Soomro, son of Dr Khalid Soomro, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the judgment, stating that the convicted should have been granted death sentences.
Maulana Rashid Mahmood has also announced his plans to appeal against ATC decision in Sindh High Court.
Reporter: Imdad Buzdar