The Balochistan High Court has sentenced former provincial lawmaker Abdul Majeed Khan Achakzai to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the 2017 killing of traffic police officer Ataullah in Quetta.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Aamir Nawaz and Justice Abdul Qayyum overturned an earlier acquittal granted by a sessions court and ordered Achakzai’s immediate arrest.
The high court also directed him to pay Diyat (blood money) to the family of the deceased traffic sergeant and issued non-bailable arrest warrants against him.
The police were directed to arrest the former lawmaker immediately and transfer him to prison to serve his sentence.
According to the case record, traffic sergeant Ataullah was killed in June 2017 after a speeding Land Cruiser struck him while he was performing his duty at GPO Chowk on Zarghoon Road in Quetta.
Following the incident, police arrested Achakzai, who was then a member of the Balochistan Assembly and a leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, and registered a case against him.
However, in September 2020, a model court in Quetta acquitted him, citing a lack of evidence.
The acquittal drew criticism from various public and journalistic circles. The matter subsequently went before the Balochistan High Court on appeal.
After hearing the appeal, the high court set aside the acquittal and handed down the 10-year prison sentence, along with the order to pay Diyat to the victim’s family.
