Charges against seven police officers, including former station house officer (SHO) Amanullah Marwat, were filed by an anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Tuesday. The case is linked to the death of aspiring model Naqeebullah Mehsud in a “staged encounter.”
On January 13, 2018, Mehsud, a 27-year-old South Waziristan native, and three other people were shot dead by “encounter specialist” and former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and his group, who claimed the victims were terrorists associated with a banned organization. Civil society around the nation protested Anwar and his crew, and social media was flooded with condemnations of the supposed “police encounter.”
Mehsud’s father had visited with then-army chief general (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, who gave him assurances of justice.
In the previous year’s Mehsud murder case, Anwar and eighteen other defendants were exonerated by the court.
The accused disputed all of the charges during today’s sessions, and the ATC called all of the witnesses for the next hearing. Gada Hussain, Sadaqat Hussain, Riaz Ahmed, Raja Shamim, Abbas, and Shoaib are among those charged in the case.
The prosecution claimed that while one of the defendants, Shoaib alias “shooter,” was free on bond, the other six, including the former SHO, were being held by the police.
On January 18, 2018, on the news of the fictitious encounter, Anwar had labeled Naqeebullah a terrorist.
The following day, January 19, a case regarding the event was filed, and Anwar was placed on leave the same day.
Anwar was supposed to appear on January 27 according to a Supreme Court decision, but he had been missing for at least two months.
In the Naqeebullah murder case, 24 accused people have been charged. Eleven of the count had been taken into custody, while thirteen more were evading capture.
Mehsud and three other people were allegedly killed in a Karachi encounter, and the suspended Malir SSP was found guilty by a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that was established on the Supreme Court’s orders.
Anwar’s presence at the scene of the incident has been verified through the use of geofencing technology.
According to sources close to the JIT, he was also present when Naqeebullah was detained and at the location where he was held during his detention.
