Mastermind of a blast that occurred in Tajik southern city of Qurghon Teppa on March 12, 2017 has got a life jail term.
The Supreme Court of Tajikistan sentenced Sharifjon Zokir to life in prison on September 28. The sentence followed his conviction on charges of organizing the blast, propagating ideas of the Islamic State (IS) terror group and killing.
His brother Rajabjon Zokirov, the 9th grade student, get a jail term of five years, while his accomplices in the crime Ravshan Fayziyev and Saadi Saidov were sentenced to 13 and 15 years in prison respectively, according to Khovar news agency.
Recall, the blast that occurred near the Khatlon military prosecutor’s office in Qurghon Teppa on March 12 at about 21:30 pm left one person dead.
A 67-year-old man, who worked as a guard at the technological lyceum next to the building of the Khatlon military prosecutor’s office, was killed as an explosive device detonated in his hands.
The law enforcement authorities have noted that the man — identified as Hasanboi Rahmonov, an ethnic Uzbek — was a casual victim of the blast.
Rahmonov reportedly picked up a suspect package on his way from a shop to the lyceum and was going to take it to the nearest police station when the package blew up in his hands.
According to investigators, the explosive was left in plain sight purposely so that any passerby would see and pick up it.
Investigators say this was not the first blast organized by members of that group. On January 30, a bomb reportedly went off in a village on the edges of the city, which is the capital of the Khatlon province. The early morning blast damaged the Hyundai automobile of an employee with the Beeline mobile phone service company. The owner of the car was not hurt.
Last summer, Sharifjon Zokir together with his brother and minor cousin reportedly hanged the black flag of the IS militant group in Qurghon Teppa and sent video to the IS militants.
On August 13, 2016, Sharifjon Zokir beat a gay from the village of Elti in the Bokhtar district to death.
