Islamabad police's retired SP sentenced to death in Senate employee murder case

ISLAMABAD: A retired superintendent of Islamabad Police, Arif Shah, was sentenced to death on Wednesday for the kidnapping and murder of Senate Secretariat employee Hamza Khan.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced the verdict after months of court proceedings in the high-profile murder case.

The court awarded Arif Shah the death penalty along with a fine of Rs1 million.

Co-accused in the case, Arif Shah’s brother-in-law Sabir Hussain Shah and son Saqlain Shah were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs2 million each.

According to investigators, 30-year-old Hamza Khan, an employee of the Senate Secretariat, was abducted from the jurisdiction of Aabpara Police Station in Islamabad.

Police later arrested retired SP Arif Shah, who confessed during interrogation to murdering Hamza with the help of his brother-in-law, Sabir Hussain Shah.

During the investigation, police took the suspect to the Khaki area of Mansehra, where he identified the location of the victim’s grave. Hamza’s body was later exhumed from the courtyard of a house belonging to Arif Shah’s family.

Authorities said a financial dispute between the accused and the victim was the motive behind the murder.

The murder case of Hamza Khan was registered at Aabpara Police Station.

Iqra Nazir murder case

Notably, Arif Shah had previously been arrested during his service in connection with the murder of Islamabad Police constable Iqra Nazir. However, he was later released after police failed to prove the charges against him.

Read More: Islamabad police’s retired SP arrested for murder of policeman

Sana Yousaf

A day earlier, the District and Sessions Court Islamabad sentenced Umar Hayat to death in the murder case of influencer Sana Yousaf.

The verdict was announced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka, who also imposed an additional 10-year prison sentence along with a fine of Rs200,000 on the convict.