KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Thursday partly heard arguments on bail application of suspended SSP Rao Anwar in a case pertaining to extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others in an alleged ‘staged’ encounter.

The ATC-II judge directed the lawyer for the complainant to argue on the plea on the next date and fixed the matter for July 5 (today).

The suspended SSP and his 11 detained subordinates along with around 15 absconding officers are accused of abducting an aspiring model hailing from South Waziristan, Naseemullah, better known as Naqeebullah Mehsud, for ransom and killing him with three other detainees by dubbing them as “militants” in a staged encounter in Malir on Jan 13.

On Wednesday, the undertrial police officer was brought to the court in an armoured personnel carrier escorted by several police mobile vans and produced in court amid tight security around the Municipal Training and Research Institute (MTRI) building, which houses the ATCs, in Clifton.

All the detained policemen were handcuffed except Rao Anwar whom the court had previously ordered to be provided better facilities, including exemption from being handcuffed, during detention.

All detained suspects brought to court in handcuffs except Rao

Defence counsel Amir Mansoob Qureshi argued that the prosecution had so far failed to establish the presence of Rao Anwar on the scene at the time four alleged captives were killed or his involvement in their alleged extrajudicial murders case which was registered at the Sachal police station.

He further argued that an inquiry committed constituted by the IG police on Jan 25, comprising Additional IG of the Counter-Terrorism Department Sanaullah Abbasi and others, had assigned the responsibility of the alleged encounter to the officials of Shah Latif Town police station, who had admittedly participated in an encounter.

Qureshi alleged that the FIR was solely registered against his client, adding that the inquiry committee had obtained the technical analysis report of applicant’s cellular number, which showed his presence on the scene of the incident or within its vicinity after the alleged encounter was recorded.

The lawyer maintained that after the former SSP voluntarily surrendered to the Supreme Court, the proceedings pending against him were dropped and a joint investigation team was formed.

“The JIT itself is self-explanatory as it is neither inculpatory nor exculpatory. It is based on a report recorded under Section 168 of the CrPC wherein the applicant has not been marked as black, grey or white,” he contended, arguing that the JIT was an inadmissible document.

The lawyer alleged that the murder case against his client was in fact a “case of no evidence” but a product of professional rivalry.

He pointed out that the two eyewitnesses — Mohammad Qasim Daud Khan and Hazrat Ali — had not implicated the suspended SSP in their statements recorded by a magistrate and by police.

The defence counsel added that the statement of an alleged eyewitness, who was let off after allegedly being kidnapped along with deceased Naqeebullah Mehsud, was recorded after a delay of 17 days, which also needed further inquiry.

The lawyer maintained that the applicant was entitled to bail especially after the SC had ordered that the subordinate courts dealing with the present matter had to decide it without being influenced by the orders of the apex court and pleaded to grant post-arrest bail.

The judge inquired that if the victims were killed in an encounter, why they were fired upon from the front instead of the back.

Advocate Qureshi said since Rao Anwar was not present at the time when the alleged offence took place, he had no knowledge from which side the victims were shot at.

Concluding his argument, he also pointed out that there were contradictions in the statements mentioned by the complainant and the eyewitnesses regarding alleged abduction of the victims.

The judge fixed the matter for July 5 (today) to hear arguments from the complainant’s lawyer.

Sub-jail

Regarding the complainant’s application against declaring a house, where the undertrial SSP was kept in the Multan Lines area of the Malir Cantonment, as sub-jail, the defence counsel maintained that the trial court may wait until pronouncement of any order in this regard by the Sindh High Court, where the matter was also sub judice.

Warrants for absconders

The judge, meanwhile, reissued warrants for arrest of more than 12 absconding suspects, including former SHOs Amanullah Marwat and Shoaib Shaikh alias Shoaib Shooter; former ASIs Anar Khan and Gada Hussain; former head constables Abbas, Sadaqat Hussain Shah and Faisal; and former constables Raja Shamim Mukhtar and Rana Riaz.

The court told the IO to arrest and produce them on the next date.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018

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