Karachi court hands double death sentence in anchor Mureed Abbas murder case

Karachi (Web Desk): An additional district and sessions court on Thursday handed death sentence to the main accused, Atif Zaman, in the 2019 murder case of television anchor Mureed Abbas and his friend Khizer Hayat.

The case stems from the fatal shooting of Mureed Abbas and Khizer Hayat in Karachi's Khayaban-e-Bukhari area on July 9, 2019. Following the incident, police arrested Atif Zaman and registered a case against him and his brother, Adil Zaman.

Besides awarding the death penalty on two counts, the court directed the convict to pay Rs500,000 in compensation to the legal heirs of each victim.

The court also issued perpetual arrest warrants for co-accused Adil Zaman, observing that he had already been declared a proclaimed offender by the trial court.

In a separate case related to the possession of illegal weapons, Atif Zaman was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs50,000.

The murder case was initially heard by an anti-terrorism court but was transferred to a sessions court in October 2019 after the ATC ruled that the matter did not fall within its jurisdiction.