LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court awarded a death sentence on two counts along with imprisonment to a security guard for killing a bank manager on the charge of committing blasphemy.
The security guard, Ahmed Nawaz, was posted as a security guard at the National Bank of Pakistan branch in Quaidabad tehsil of Khushab district of Punjab.
The police report said, the manager of the bank branch in Khushab, Malik Imran Hanif, was shifted to a medical facility after he was shot. Later, he was referred to Lahore where he succumbed to a gunshot at the Services Hospital.
Reports in local media cited that the Nawaz claimed to have assassinated his boss with a video circulating on in which he could be heard saying that the deceased manager had insulted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The attacker was then greeted by leaders of religious party members, all of whom chanted slogans and addressed supporters while local law enforcers could be seen standing nearby, recording videos. The accused was greeted by a crowd raising religious slogans that roamed the city streets. Later, he surrendered at Quaidabad police station.
On the other hand, a family member of the deceased Hanif claimed that he was assassinated due to a personal matter while trashing the suspect’s claim that Hanif had committed blasphemy. In addition to this, a senior officer of Khushab told a Pakistani news outlet that the guard and the manager had some issues.
He also revealed that Nawaz was fired a few months ago and was later rehired and had an argument with the manager some days ago and the whole matter sparked due to personal grievances.
Report of Samaa news quoting Khushab District Police Officer Tariq Wilayat, suggests that Nawaz claimed that he shot Hanif because he was an Ahmadi and had blasphemed Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
A case was then lodged under Sections 302 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code while the hearing of the case was held under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. During the trial, the Sargodha ATC Special Judge Khawar Rashid found that Nawaz found guilty of killing the bank manager over false charges of blasphemy.
The ATC judge remarked that the convict will face additional imprisonment of two years over non-payment of a fine of Rs500,000 and Rs100,000, respectively.
Furthermore, a report on International Religious Freedom of 2019 cited that at least 80 people are imprisoned in jails of the South Asian country against blasphemy cases and at least half of them are facing a life or death sentence while another report depicted that around 77 people have been killed in Pakistan over blasphemy accusations in the last 3 decades.
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