Almost six years after his murder in a ‘staged encounter’, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi Tuesday indicted seven police personnel, including former station house officer (SHO) Amanullah Marwat, in a high-profile case related to the killing of aspiring model Naqeebullah Mehsud.
Former Malir SSP Rao Anwar along with his team gunned down Mehsud — a 27-year-old native of South Waziristan — and three others on January 13, 2018, dubbing them militants affiliated with a banned outfit in Karachi.
The alleged “police encounter” had triggered an outpouring of condemnations on social media and countrywide protests by civil society against Anwar and his team.
Then-army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had met Mehsud’s father and assured him of justice. However, the court had acquitted Anwar and 18 others in the Mehsud murder case last year.
During the course of today’s proceedings, the ATC summoned all the witnesses on the next hearing as the accused denied all the charges. Those indicted in the case include Gada Hussain, Sadaqat Hussain, Riaz Ahmed, Raja Shamim, Abbas, and Shoaib.
According to the prosecution, six of the accused, including the former SHO, were in police custody while one named Shoaib alias “shooter” was enjoying bail.
