PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Monday convicted a police constable and sentenced him to life imprisonment with fine of Rs100,000 in a case of firing at a procession, last year, which had left nine persons injured.

The anti-terrorism court judge Syed Asghar Ali Shah pronounced that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused, Syed Ali Badshah, who was a constable at Bana Mari police station in Peshawar, and was on duty at the time of the occurrence.

The procession was part of demonstrations staged across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on November 22 against sectarian violence on the occasion of Ashura in Rawalpindi.

Mr Najeebullah was complainant in the case, who was part of the procession and had also received injuries in the firing.

The accused was charged under section 7 of the ATA, sections 324, 353 and 427 of PPC and section 155D (violation of duty) of Police Order.

The complainant`s counsel contended that the accused was directly charged in the FIR and was caught red handed at the place of occurrence. They stated that soon after the incident the administration had announced his arrest and his official rifle was taken into custody by the local police.