An Islamabad district and sessions court has sentenced a former Islamabad superintendent of police (SP) to death for the kidnapping and murder of Senate employee Hamza Khan.
The case, which stemmed from a financial dispute involving the victim and the convict, namely Arif Shah, concluded under Judge Afzal Majoka as the court also handed down life imprisonment sentences and fines of Rs1 million each to the ex-cop’s brother-in-law Sabir Shah and his nephew for their roles as accomplices in the crime.
According to the prosecution’s findings, Arif Shah abducted and killed the 28-year-old victim before transporting the body to Mansehra. To conceal the crime, the perpetrators buried Hamza Khan’s body within the lawn of the co-defendant’s residence and placed horses directly over the burial site to avoid detection.
The prosecution successfully built its case using digital forensics, which included call records, CCTV footage tracking movements from Mansehra and DNA profiling to confirm the identity of the remains.
Conversely, defence attorney Raja Shafaat Khan challenged the verdict, asserting that the evidence presented was legally insufficient, the recovered remains were unidentifiable when located in a forested area and that the official DNA testing report remained highly unsatisfactory.
The judicial outcome drew formal responses from the victim’s immediate family members. Hamza’s father Gul Khitab expressed profound relief over the court’s decision, revealing that the family had faced extensive extrajudicial pressures and targeted efforts from influential parties attempting to force an out-of-court settlement.
Additionally, the victim’s sister Hameeda emphasized that a public execution was “necessary” to ensure that no serving or retired law enforcement official, regardless of rank, could exploit their authority to commit acts of violence against ordinary citizens.
