An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has sentenced two accused to five years in prison in an extortion case. Waseem Abbas Hashmi and Muzzamil Aslam Monga were found guilty of extorting money from a bonesetter within the jurisdiction of the Aziz Bhatti police station in August 2022. The ATC-II judge pronounced his order after recording evidence and arguments from the defence and prosecution sides. He ruled that the prosecution proved its case against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt.
The judge awarded five-year imprisonment to both the convicts and ordered each of them to pay Rs10,000 in fine or undergo additional six-month imprisonment on default. The convicts, who were on bail, were taken into custody and sent to prison along with conviction warrants to serve out the sentence.
According to the prosecution, Hashmi, said to be a reporter of a YouTube-based news channel, along with a cameraman came to bonesetter Arif Solangi’s clinic in the Ayesha Manzil area on August 15, 2022. He demanded Rs300,000 in extortion and threatened to have the clinic closed if Solangi refused to pay the amount, it added.
State prosecutor Pervez Ghumro said that the complainant later agreed to pay the accused Rs150,000 and two days later, he went to the channel’s office, where its owner Monga and reporter Waseem threatened him and received Rs150,0000 in cash from him.
