RAWALPINDI: As the efforts by law enforcement agencies to arrest former Malir SSP Rao Anwar have so far proved to be unproductive, the Federal Investigation Agency’s Interpol wing has issued ‘Blue Notice’ to trace his location and activities requesting the member countries for their assistance in apprehending the absconder.

According to sources, the Blue Notices issued by Interpol had been sent to Qatar, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and European countries seeking their assistance in identifying the former SSP and his location.

The sources said the Qatari authorities had replied to the FIA’s Interpol wing that no such person (Rao Anwar) had entered Qatar’s territory so far. However, if he had made transit through Qatar, they were not aware of that.

According to a senior official of the FIA, the Blue Notice (BN) is mainly issued by Interpol to collect additional information about someone connected with a criminal investigation and to find out his location or activities in relation to a crime.

The BN also requests assistance in locating friends, relatives or associates of an offender.

A Blue Notice can be issued prior to criminal charges being filed, whereas Red Notices are issued for the person who have been charged with a crime or convicted of a crime.

On the other hand, incumbent SSP (investigation) Malir Zulfiqar Mehar who had been assigned the task to arrest former SSP Rao Anwar in Rawalpindi-Islamabad returned to Karachi on Thursday after the Supreme Court gave 10 days to the Karachi police to arrest him.

The former SSP is absconding in the case of extrajudicial killing of Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud.

The FIA’s Cyber Crime wing had been trying to trace the location of Rao Anwar who had been making phone calls through WhatsApp since his disappearance.

However, the FIA has so far been unable to trace the location of such individuals who are using WhatsApp calls due to lack of modern technology.

The FIA investigators have been trying to find out the name and identity of the person whose internet connection is being used by former SSP Malir Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan.

The sources said that the FIA had alerted its personnel deployed on land route to foil any attempt by the former SSP to cross Pakistan territory through land route.

Rao Anwar’s name had already been placed on the Exit Control List on the directive of the Supreme Court after he had made an attempt to leave the country from Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Jan 23.

The sources said that Rao might try to escape through land route as his location had been found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by intelligence officials.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2018