Daily Times

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted bail to Sub-Inspector (SI) Muhammad Yaseen and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sapurd Hussain on Saturday in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.

Rao Anwar, the main accused in the murder case, was earlier granted bail by the ATC on July 10. The court ordered both of the accused police officers to submit bail bonds worth Rs0.2 million (mn) each. Announcing that it would decide on accused Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Qamar’s bail petition in the next hearing, the court adjourned the hearing till August 18. So far, bails of four police personnel accused in the case, including Rao Anwar, have been approved by the anti-terrorism court (ATC).

In an informal conversation with media outside the ATC in Karachi, Anwar said police officers accused in the case had been ‘unnecessarily put on trial.’ “Some individuals wanted to these officers to give a certain statement but upon their refusal, a false case was made against them,” he claimed.

Anwar further added that false accusations had been made against poor people. When asked why absconding police personnel had not presented themselves before Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Anwar responded, “People will flee if injustice against them continues.”

Earlier on July 21, Rao Anwar, the prime accused in Naqeebullah murder case, was released on bail. Anwar was indicted in Naqeebullah murder case and illegal arms case. Former Malir SSP Rao Anwar’s bail pleas in both cases were approved on July 10 and July 25 respectively. Anwar was directed to pay bail bonds worth Rs1 mn for each case.

Before that, in a written statement submitted in an ATC in Karachi, Mohammad Khan, the father of Naqeebullah Mehsud expressed reservations on the court’s ability to act impartially in the case against former SSP Malir Rao Anwar. Mohammad Khan’s statement, submitted through his counsel Faisal Siddiqui, detailed his lack of confidence in the ATC to impart justice in the fake encounter case against Anwar. Seeking adjournment of hearings, Khan had requested the special case to be transferred to the Sindh High Court (SHC) under Section 526 of the Criminal Procedure Code “(CRPC).”

Naqeebullah Mehsud, a 27-year-old hailing from South Waziristan, was gunned down along with three others on January 13 in Shah Latif Town in a staged encounter. Initially, former SSP Anwar had claimed that all four of the men killed, allegedly on his orders, belonged to the terrorist outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However preliminary probe suggested that Mehsud was killed in cold blood and had no terror links. His killing sparked a social media outcry, as his family members rejected claims by authorities that he was a member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, saying that he was an innocent aspiring male model. Rao Anwar went into hiding soon after demands for his arrest surfaced. Protests staged by the Mehsud tribe and the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) erupted in the country afterwards.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.