Ex-PAF official executed in Pervez Musharraf attack case

ISLAMABAD: A former technician with Pakistan Air Force, who was convicted for an assassination attempt on former president Pervez Musharraf, has been hanged, becoming the eigth person to be executed since the government lifted the moratorium on death penalty.

Khalid Mehmood was hanged in Central Jail Adiala in Rawalpindi last night.

He was sentenced to death in 2005 by the Field General Court Martial under the Army Act for attack on Musharraf on December 14, 2003 in Rawalpindi.

Mehmood was shifted to Adiala Jail on October 27, 2010. Strict security measures had been taken before his execution. Army and Rangers personnel were deployed in and outside the Adiala jail. Besides this, aerial surveillance of the area was also carried out, Dawn reported.

Mehmood met with 27 of his family members before execution.

So far four convicted in Musharraf case including Niaz Muhammad, Karamdeen, Nawazish and Khalid Mehmood have been hanged, while another Adnan Rasheed was released after attack on Bannu jail in 2012.

Pakistan has executed eight people after lifting a moratorium on executions of death row prisoners in the country in the wake of Peshawar school attack.