An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Monday directed witnesses in the Naqeebullah Mehsud case — a Waziristan native killed in a staged encounter in Karachi in January 2018 — to appear before the court on February 13.

During today's proceedings, former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and others accused in the case were presented before the court.

Further, the plaintiff's lawyer, after the death of Naqeebullah's father Mohammad Khan, filed a new power of attorney signed by the deceased's brother.

Naqeebullah, who hailed from South Waziristan, was among the four suspects killed in an 'encounter' with a police team headed by Anwar in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of Karachi in 2018.

Read more: Dawn Investigations: Rao Anwar and the killing fields of Karachi

Anwar had stuck to the claim that the deceased was a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant but a spokesperson of the outlawed TTP's South Waziristan chapter had termed Anwar's claim as "baseless", clarifying that Naqeebullah had no links with the banned militant outfit.

Naqeebullah's family had also disputed the former SSP's claim, saying that the 27-year-old had no links with any militant organisation.

Naqeebullah — whose name is given as Naseemullah on his national identity card — was a shop owner fond of modelling, a relative of the deceased had told Dawn.

Last year, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi had declared Naqeebullah and three others innocent and had quashed the cases filed against the four accused who had been killed in the staged police encounter.

In March 2019, an ATC had indicted Anwar and 17 others for the murder of Naqeebullah in the fake encounter.

Anwar as well as former deputy superintendent of police Qamar are currently out on bail. Eight other policemen involved in the incident are in jail while former SHOs Amanullah Marwat and Shoaib Shaikh are absconders in the case.