Karachi, Aug 12: An anti-terrorism court today handed out death sentence to a Pakistani paramilitary trooper and life sentences to six others convicted of killing an 18-year-old unarmed man, who was publicly shot dead in a cold blood leading to an uproar in the country.
 The killing of Sarfaraz Shah was caught on videotape and broadcast live, sending shock waves two months ago.
 Special Public Prosecutor Muhammad Khan Buriro told reporters that the court's judgement was a historic decision as the Rangers personnel were involved in a terrorist act in their individual capacities.
 Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso imposed a fine of Rs two lakh on the main culprit and one lakh each on the six other convicts and said this amount should be paid to Shah's family.
 Shah, a brother of a local TV journalist, was killed in cold blood by the Pakistani Rangers on June 8 at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto park in the up-market Clifton area after he was handed over to them by the private contractor, Afsar Khan, who accused him of committing theft and looting.
 After killing the youth, the rangers claimed in a press release that he was armed and a criminal.
 However, TV footage of the killing later showed that the Rangers personnel shot the unarmed Shah twice and after injuring him seriously, they watched him bleed to death instead of shifting him to hospital for medical treatment.
 The Rangers personnel and the private contractor were arrested under the anti-terrorism law as well as murder charges after the Supreme Court that took suo moto notice of the brutal murder.
 The SC had directed the ATC to complete the trial in 30-days time.
 The defendants denied the prosecution charges throughout the trial and later Shahid Zafar, the man who fired the killing shots, claimed the gun went off accidentally.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST