KARACHI: The three Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants executed in the Sukkur prison early Tuesday morning were brought to Karachi where two of them were buried and the body of their accomplice was flown to Haripur district for burial, while the murderer of a lawyer executed in the Karachi central prison was moved to his ancestral town in Dadu.

The bodies of the three LJ militants — Mohammad Talha, Khalil Ahmed alias Hassan Jan and Mohammad Shahid Hanif alias Mufti Shahid — were brought to the city by Edhi ambulances after the early morning hanging in the Sukkur prison.

They had killed the ministry of defence’s director laboratories Syed Zafar Hussain Zaidi on July 30, 2001. Mr Zaidi was targeted near his Nazimabad residence.

All the three LJ militants were sentenced to death by an antiterrorism court in April 2002 for the killing. Their convictions were upheld by the Sindh High Court and appeal against the verdict was also rejected by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Their black warrants were issued by an antiterrorism court last week.

“The three bodies were brought from Sukkur with their family members by our ambulances,” said Anwar Kazmi of the Edhi Foundation. He added that two of them were moved to the Malir area and one to Nazimabad.

The funeral of Khalil Ahmed alias Hassan Jan and Shahid Hanif alias Mufti Shahid was held on a road in Millat Town in Malir after Isha prayers. Some area people and their family members attended the funeral.

“After the funeral prayers, Khalil Ahmed was buried in the area’s graveyard,” said Al-Falah SHO Inspector Malik Jan Khan.

“As Mufti Shahid originally hailed from Haripur, his body was flown to the district by his family who accompanied the body right from Sukkur to Karachi,” the inspector said.

He said the area police with the support of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, had made security arrangements for the funeral that ended ‘peacefully’ after it was attended by a ‘moderate’ number of people.

The funeral of Mohammad Talha, who was a resident of Rizvia area in Nazimabad, was held after Isha prayers at Madina Masjid near his home. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) DSP Zahid Hussain said that mostly the area people and his family members attended the funeral.

“After the funeral prayers, he was buried in Shah Muhammad graveyard in North Karachi. All went off well and ended peacefully as police were there for security,” he said.

The body of Behram Khan, who was executed at the Karachi central prison for a lawyer’s murder, was transported to his ancestral town in Dadu district.

After the hanging, jail officials and workers of the Edhi Foundation said the body was handed over to his family members who moved it to the Khairpur Nathan Shah area of Dadu.

“The family of Behram Khan had visited him before the execution. They were called again to receive the body after the execution,” said an official wishing not to be named.

Behram Khan was condemned to death in June 2003 for killing Advocate Mohammad Ashraf on the Sindh High Court premises in April 2003.

Later, he filed an appeal against his conviction in the Sindh High Court but it upheld the death penalty. Therefore, he moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which also maintained the death sentence.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2015

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