Man sentenced to life in prison for killing rival.

PESHAWAR -- A local court has convicted a man of the murder of his rival near the Peshawar High Court building and awarded life imprisonment and Rs500,000 fine to him.

Additional district and sessions judge Attaullah Jan declared that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused, Saddam of Bakhshu Pul area in Peshawar, 'without any shadow of doubt', while the evidence available on record also connected him with the commission of the offence.

He, however, acquitted the three co-accused, including Nasir Ali, Zahid Ali and Amjad Ali, due to a lack of sufficient evidence against them.

The court granted the convict the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) under which the period of his detention prior to conviction will be counted in his jail term.

Three co-accused acquitted by Peshawar court

The convict had a blood feud with the deceased, Ibrarullah Khan.

The complainant in the FIR was Abidullah Khan, a brother of the deceased. He said he along with his brother, Ibrar, had gone to the Peshawar Judicial Complex on Feb 24, 2020, in connection with some litigation.

He had added that when they had reached near the Peshawar High Court on the way from the court, the prime accused, Saddam, started firing at them causing critical injuries to Ibrar, who died afterwards.

The accused was held by a policeman as the latter tried to escape.

The complainant had also alleged that three co-accused had helped the prime accused commit the offence.

The state prosecutor contended that the...