KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Friday sentenced a Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militant to life imprisonment for a bomb blast in Patel Para in July 2013.

The ATC-VII judge, who conducted the trial inside the central prison for security reasons, handed down life term to LJ militant Imran on two counts pertaining to the bomb explosion in a flat in Patel Para in which his three accomplices had died.According to the prosecution, three militants Matiuddin, Mohammad Naeem and Subhan were killed while Imran sustained injures when a bomb went of f apparently due to mishandling of explosive material inside their flat in Patel Para.

An explosive device was also found from the flat, police said, adding that the bomb went off when the LJ militants were apparently trying to attach a battery to it.

A case was registered under Sections 302 (punishment for premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (commonintention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections 3/4 of the Explosive Substances Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 at the Jamshed Quarters police station.

Life imprisonment Meanwhile, another ATC sentenced a gangster to two life terms in prison in cases pertaining to the killing of a deputy superintendent of Rangers in a shoot-out and the kidnapping and murder of a student.Mohammad Athar was found guilty of murdering Mohammad Irfan after kidnapping him for ransom from Liaquatabad in April 2013 and killing DSR Mohammad Hanif in a shoot-out when he, along with other law-enforcement personnel, raided a hideout in Lyari for the recovery of the captive.

The ATC-V judge handed down life imprisonment to the convict for double murder and awarded five-year term for deter- ring public servants from discharging their duties.

The court also directed the convict to pay Rs100,000 in each case to the legal heirs of the victims as compensation and imposed a similar amount as fine in both cases.

In case of default, he would have to undergo additional three years each in prison. However, the court ruled that allthe sentences would run concurrently.

The convict had recorded his confessional statement in both cases before a judicial magistrate. The testimonies of eyewitnesses and documentary evidence also supported the cases of the prosecution, according to the verdict.

However, the court acquitted co-accused Khurram in the shoot-out case for lack of evidence. According to the prosecution, the convict, associated with one of the several gangs operating inLyari, had abducted the young student and demanded Rs1 million in ransom.

The Rangers and police went to Lyari for the recovery of the captive, but the kidnappers had already killed him and engaged in a shoot-out with the lawenforcement agencies, it added. Three accomplices of the convict were killed in the exchange of fire while the DSR also lost his life. The prosecution said Kamran was a proclaimed offender in both cases.