FAISALABAD: Preparations for the execution of four death-row prisoners, who were convicted for involvement in an attack on former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, were finalised on Sunday at a district jail in Faisalabad.
Civilians Zubair Ahmed, Rasheed Qureshi, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti and Russian citizen Akhlaque Ahmed were shifted from Faisalabad Central jail to the death cell in a district jail on late on Saturday.
The prisoners had to be shifted to a district jail under strict security measures because the lever which is used to open the trapdoor to carryout hangings was not present in the Central jail.
Family members of the death-row prisoners were allowed to meet the convicts for the last time after completion of all other legal formalities.
Security has been tightened in the city to avoid any untoward incident. Additional contingents of security personnel were deployed while containers and barricades were placed on the routes leading to the district jail.
Some sources, however, claim that the execution of only two death-row prisoners was still pending while the execution of the remaining two had already been carried out.
The claim could not be verified by officials of the jail administration.
Similarly preparation were underway in Lahore for the execution of four death row prisoners in Kot Lakhpat Central Jail. The executions ere expected to be carried out within the next 24-36 hours.
All routes leading to the jail were sealed with the deployment of military personnel and installation of cellphone jammers around the jail premises.
Authorities in Sukkur called in the relatives of two terrorists, belonging to the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who had been sentenced to death 10 years ago in a sectarian killing case, to hold a final meeting on Monday.
An antiterrorism court on Friday had issued black warrants for Attaullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Azam alias Sharif who had been given death sentence by an antiterrorism court in July 2004 for killing Dr Ali Raza Peerani on sectarian grounds in June 2001 in the Soldier Bazaar area.
Both terrorists were arrested from Karachi. Tuesday has been decided the day of their execution.
Earlier on Friday, two former military men were executed in the Faisalabad district jail.
Read: Army chief signs death warrants of six convicts
The hangings on Friday were the first death sentences carried out after the government ended a six-year moratorium on executions on Wednesday, in response to the Peshawar tragedy.
In response, Taliban groups released messages vowing revenge for the deaths of their comrades-in-arms.
Usman a former soldier of the army’s medical corps, was executed in relation to an attack on the headquarters of the Pakistan Army in 2009 in Rawalpindi.
Also read: Militant siege of Peshawar school ends, 141 killed
Arshad Mehmood, who was a trooper and also hanged in Friday, was among five convicts who were handed out the death sentence for their role in an Al Qaeda-inspired assassination attempt on Musharraf’s life in late 2003.
Musharraf, who was in power at the time, narrowly escaped the bid when two suicide car bombers rammed his motorcade on Dec 25, 2003, in Rawalpindi. Fifteen people were killed in that attack.
It was the second attempt on Musharraf’s life that month, and several soldiers, air force personnel and militants were arrested after the two attacks.
