Karachi Court Sentences Mureed Abbas Murder Convict to Death
KARACHI: A Karachi court on Thursday awarded two death sentences to Atif Zaman after convicting him in the 2019 murders of television anchor Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat, bringing a high-profile criminal trial to a decisive stage exactly seven years after the killings.
The verdict was delivered in a case that had remained under public attention because of the victim’s media profile, the alleged financial dispute behind the crime and the long wait for a final trial court decision. The court found Atif Zaman guilty on two murder counts, with each death sentence linked to one of the two victims.
The court also issued perpetual arrest warrants for Adil Zaman, the co-accused and brother of the convict, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in the case. His continued absence means that one part of the legal process remains unresolved despite the conviction of the main accused.
During proceedings, the prosecution maintained that Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat were killed on July 9, 2019, after a dispute linked to business and financial dealings. The case had been registered at Karachi’s Darakhshan police station, and prosecutors argued that the evidence established the role of the accused in the double murder.
Legal representatives connected to the case have previously said that Adil Zaman became an absconder after the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry cancelled his bail. The trial court had later declared him a proclaimed offender, allowing proceedings against Atif Zaman to continue separately.
Mureed Abbas, a well-known television anchor, was shot dead in Karachi’s Defence area, while Khizar Hayat also suffered fatal bullet wounds in the same episode. The killings shocked media circles and the wider public, particularly after early reports suggested the incident was tied to a financial dispute among business associates.
The case also passed through questions of jurisdiction. In 2019, it was transferred from an anti-terrorism court to a sessions court after the earlier forum concluded that the offence did not fall within its scope, shifting the matter into the regular criminal trial system.
For Karachi’s justice system, the judgment is significant because the case had become a symbol of delays in high-profile murder trials and the difficulty families face in pursuing accountability over several years. The decision may offer some closure to the families, though the legal process is not necessarily over.
The conviction is likely to remain a major public talking point because of its media connection, the seven-year timeline and the unresolved status of the absconding co-accused. It also renews debate over how financial disputes can escalate into violent crime when regulatory, legal and enforcement safeguards fail.
The next phase will depend on appellate proceedings and efforts to locate and arrest Adil Zaman. Until the appeals process and outstanding warrants are resolved, the case will remain an important test of whether Pakistan’s criminal justice system can deliver both finality and enforcement in major murder cases.