LAHORE, Pakistan: A death row convict Ikramul Haq was executed at Kot Lakhpat Central Jail in Lahore on Saturday morning, bringing the total number of executions so far to 20 since lifting of ban on death penalty last month.
Ikramul Haq, belonging to the outlawed Sunni sectarian group ‘Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)’ was hanged till death for killing a man Nayyar Abbas at an Imambargah in Shorkot tehsil of Jhang district in 2001.
The diseased Nayyar Abbas was a guard of Altaf Shah of the banned Sipah-i-Muhammad at the Imambargah.
The death penalty to Ikramul Haq was awarded by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad in 2004.
The authorities handed over the body of Ikramul Haq to his brother after his execution.
On December 17, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a six-year moratorium on death penalty for those convicted for terrorism, a day after the deadly terror attack that hit an army-run school in Peshawar claiming lives of more than 130 children.
Since the approval of implementation on death penalty by the premier, so far 20 convicted terrorists have been executed in different jails across the country.