KARACHI: A sessions court has sentenced two men to seven years in prison in a robbery case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Shahid Ali Memon found accused Muhammad Saleem and Shan Muhammad guilty of looting a rickshaw driver near Hassan Square in March.

The court also awarded an additional seven-year imprisonment to Saleem for possession of an illegal weapon and imposed a fine of Rs20,000 on him.

“The case at hand is not an ordinary one, but an offence against society. In fact, the recovery of a weapon is the mother of every crime. If, on the day of the alleged incident, the accused had not been armed, they would not have dared to rob the complainant,” the judge observed in the verdict.

The judge added, “It is relevant to point out the current situation in Karachi, where many people have lost their lives and property at the hands of robbers, who always use weapons in their crimes. As a result, the entire society feels insecure, and this sense of insecurity has a negative impact on the city’s economic and social activities.”

According to state prosecutor Syed Khursheed Bukhari, the complainant informed the police that, at midnight on March 3, while driving his rickshaw, two men on a motorcycle intercepted him near Hassan Square. At gunpoint, they snatched cash and documents from him. However, as they attempted to flee, the complainant hit them with his rickshaw, causing them to fall off their motorcycle. A crowd then gathered and began beating the accused. The police arrived, rescued the robbers, and took them to the police station.

During the hearing, the state prosecutor argued that the prosecution presented both oral and documentary evidence. All their witnesses, including the complainant, remained consistent, and their testimony was not undermined by the defence.

The defence counsel claimed that the evidence was contradictory. They argued that the officer who arrested the accused and the investigating officer had failed to involve private witnesses in the case. They also claimed that nothing was recovered from the accused and that the police, to show efficiency, had fabricated the recovery of the stolen amount and falsely implicated the accused under the Sindh Arms Act by planting weapons on them.

Two separate cases were registered at the Aziz Bhatti police station under Sections 397 (robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as Section 23(i)(a) of the Sindh Arms Act 2013.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024