PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Sunday expressed his concern over the disappearance of a key eyewitness in Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case and asked the Supreme Court chief justice to take suo motu notice of the incident.

In a statement issued from the party’s secretariat in Peshawar, he said that the Supreme Court should cancel the bail of retired police officer Rao Anwar as he could pressurise other eyewitnesses to make them retract their statements against him regarding his alleged involvement in the extrajudicial killing of the tribal youth.

“It seems that some forces are at work to weaken this case to deny justice to the bereaved family,” he feared.

Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, hailing from South Waziristan, was killed allegedly in a fake police encounter in Karachi last year.

Mr Sherpao said that Naqeebullah’s murder was a test case for the police as the incident had saddened all the people alike, particularly the Pakhtuns. He said that it would be shocking and disappointing if justice was not provided to the family of the victim in the case.

He said that such incidents would deepen the sense of despondency among Pakhtuns and alienate them from the state.

Criticising the police for their highhandedness, Mr Sherpao said that the death of Pakhtun political worker Arman Loni and the Sahiwal incident would have been averted had the perpetrators of Naqeebullah murder case punished. He said that it was duty of the government to ensure provision of justice to the victim’s family.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2019