KARACHI: Jail authorities were unable to present Shahrukh Jatoi before a judicial magistrate on Wednesday in a case pertaining to the convict fleeing the country in 2013.
As the judicial magistrate in Malir expressed anger over Jatoi’s absence, the prison authorities said the convict is a death row prisoner who could not be brought to court. They further argued that the case has already been declared sensitive.
“The provincial home department had also restricted Jatoi’s movement,” jail authorities informed the court.
They informed the bench that a letter has been written to the Sindh Home Department requesting to hold the case hearings in jail.
“However, we have not received a notification as yet from the Sindh Home Department on the request,” they added.
Subsequently, the judicial magistrate directed the Sindh Home Department to submit a report on the notification and Jatoi’s movement.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned until July 7.
Jatoi had fled to UAE illegally using false travel documents on December 27, 2012, after murdering Shahzeb Khan. He was arrested in 2013 in Dubai and brought back to Pakistan.
The CCTV footage from the airport gave Jatoi away, leading to a case filed against him for fleeing the countryfollowing the murder.
On December 23, 2017, Jatoi, the son of an influential feudal, and other defendants in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, were released from custody on bail after Shahzeb’s father submitted an affidavit in support of the defendant's bail application.
Shahzeb was gunned down by Jatoi in a posh locality of Karachi on December 25, 2012.
An anti-terrorism court in 2013 had awarded death sentences to Jatoi and Siraj Talpur for the murder of Shahzeb, while life sentences were awarded to Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari.