ATC grants bail to Rao Anwar

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An anti-terrorism court (ATC), on Friday, granted bail to Malir’s former SSP Rao Anwar in a case pertaining to the possession of explosives and illegal weapons.

The ATC ordered Anwar to submit surety bonds worth Rs 1 million (mn). Following the submission of the bail bond, it is expected that Anwar’s release orders will be issued soon.

The anti-terrorism court had reserved its verdict on Anwar’s bail plea on July 17. The verdict, which approved of Rao Anwar’s bail plea in the explosives case was announced on Friday.

Previously, the ATC granted bail to Anwar in the Naqeebullah murder case. While approving Rao Anwar’s bail plea, the court had directed him to submit Rs1 mn in bail bonds.

Anwar, along with 11 of his subordinates, is facing trial before the ATC for allegedly killing Naqeebullah Mehsud, a shopkeeper and aspiring model from South Waziristan, and three others in a staged encounter on January 13 in Malir.

Earlier on, Mehsud’s father, Mohammad Khan, had expressed a lack of confidence in the ATC judge hearing the murder case. Mohammad Khan and his counsels had boycotted a hearing to submit a request to transfer the case to another court.

Mohammad Khan’s counsels had claimed repeatedly that the controversial police officer was awarded special treatment as he did not spend a single day behind bars following his arrest. Anwar was housed in his Malir residence since his arrest, which was declared a sub-jail by the authorities.

Naqeebullah Mehsud’s family had also expressed their reservations over the fact that Anwar had never appeared in court in handcuffs. According to the deceased’s father, the special judge presiding over the case did not take notice of Anwar’s protocol despite a petition filed earlier.

Mohammad Khan and his counsel said that there was an imminent threat to the witnesses in the case and some of them had retracted their statements. They said that a plea was filed pertaining to threats to witnesses but the judge announced no decision on it.

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st 2018.