KARACHI: In a major development in the Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud murder probe, police on Tuesday evening booked SP Rao Anwar and some other policemen on terrorism, kidnap and murder charges after an inquiry committee met the family of the South Waziristan youngster and vowed to move on a fast track to bring the case to a logical end.

SP Anwar and his more than half a dozen unknown team members have been nominated in an FIR (40/2018) by Naqeeb’s father, Khan Muhammad Mehsud.

The FIR was lodged at the Sachal police station under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 344 (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). However, SP Anwar was not taken into custody till late in the night.

Terrorism section also added to the FIR against former Malir SSP

“The FIR was lodged in the evening that would follow the required legal process,” DIG-East Sultan Ali Khowaja said when asked about the expected arrest of SP Anwar.

According to the contents of the FIR, Naqeeb was picked up on Jan 3 afternoon with two of his friends from a roadside teashop on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road by “SP Rao Anwar’s men” in plain clothes. Later, his two friends were released on Jan 6. But after a few days, on Jan 17 the family came to know through news channels about the killing of Naqeeb in an encounter.

Referring to the findings of the police inquiry committee which found that Naqeeb was killed in a “fake encounter” “staged” by SP Anwar on Jan 13, the victim’s father asked in the FIR that the officer be booked under ATA and other relevant clauses of the penal code.

Before the FIR was lodged, the inquiry team — headed by Additional IG and Counter-Terrorism Department chief Dr Sanaullah Abbasi and comprising DIG-East Khowaja and DIG-South Azad Khan — visited the protest camp set up by area people off the Superhighway to meet the victim’s father.

In a brief speech to the protesters, CTD chief Abbasi assured them of a speedy probe and meeting all legal formalities to serve justice. He also asked them to cooperate with the inquiry committee and investigation team for a better coordination and desired results.

Later talking to the media, he rejected an impression about any pressure he and his team was facing during the probe against a “well-connected Rao Anwar”.

“We found that it was a fake encounter within first 14 hours,” he told a questioner. “If there was any pressure, we would not have been able to come to this conclusion and share it with the media. There is no pressure and our actions are justifying our claims. From arrest to prosecution, any process required by the law... you would see that happening. No one is above the law.”

Naqeeb was the owner of a shop and fond of modelling. A day after the alleged encounter, his acquaintances and relatives had disputed the police claim that the deceased was a militant affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

A protest by civil society, criticism from political parties and a social media campaign attracted action from the Sindh government when Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had taken notice of his death that led to the formation of an inquiry committee.

Authorities in the Sindh police removed SP Anwar from the office of the Malir SSP and wrote to the Sindh government to suspend him from service.

SP Anwar had also announced boycott of the proceedings of the inquiry committee and since then mysteriously disappeared.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018