Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Following his appearance before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, suspended SSP Rao Anwar, who spearheaded Naqeebullah Mehsud’s alleged ‘encounter’, was arrested.

During a case hearing regarding Naqeebullah ‘encounter’ case, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar inquired the ex-SSP over his abscond. “Where were you hiding and why did you not trust the court? Aren’t you one of those who arrested people himself?,” Justice Nisar asked.

CJP also remarked that the letter written by Rao Anwar regarding his ‘innocence’ was ‘not appropriate’. Upon this, the ex-SSP’s counsel responded that ‘we have presented Rao Anwar before the court’, to which Justice Nisar jabbed the lawyer saying that he had not done the court any favour.

Justice Nisar also ordered to constitute a Joint-Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the matter, which would consist of Sindh AIG Aftab Pathan as its head, while Zulfiqar Larak, Dr Rizwan, Azad Ahmed Khan and Waliullah as the probing unit’s other five members.

CJP also ordered to restore the former SSP’s frozen bank accounts, while he also lifted the contempt of court charges. Moreover, he ordered Sindh IG to provide Rao Anwar with foolproof security.

Anwar’s counsel requested the chief justice to include intelligence officials in the JIT to probe the matter ‘since some police officials were against Rao Anwar’. The request was, however, rejected by CJP. “Intelligence agencies have nothing to do with a murder case,” he remarked.

Naqeebullah, 27, hailing from South Waziristan and residing in Karachi since 2008, was allegedly apprehended by police in Karachi on January 2, 2018, and was killed on January 17 in a controversial encounter besides three other suspects by a police team headed by (SSP) Rao Anwar in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of Karachi.