One sentenced to death, another handed life imprisonment for murder of army officer.

ISLAMABAD -- A sessions court in Islamabad convicted two men, Bait Ullah and Gul Siddique, for the murder of Major Mohammad Laraib of the Special Services Group (SSG) last year.

Additional sessions judge Muhammad Ali Warriach sentenced Baitullah to death while Gul Siddique was handed life imprisonment. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on each of the accused.

Maj Laraib was stationed in Attock and had come to the capital in an official capacity. After finishing his duty, he was meeting a friend in G-9 when he was murdered on Nov 21, 2019. Police officials had arrested two suspects the next month by mobile phone tracing.

The verbal order in the case was given two days ago. In a written order issued on Saturday, the judge noted police had recovered an empty shell of a 30-bore pistol from the crime scene.

When Siddique was arrested and searched, he also had a 30-bore pistol on him, the verdict said. During his physical remand, Bait Ullah revealed details which led the police to another 30-bore pistol, which forensic tests showed was the weapon used to commit the crime.

Further revelations by both suspects also led the police to recover the major's original computerised national identity card (CNIC), Rs2,000 which were stolen from him and a brown purse that belonged to the deceased's friend, the...