KARACHI: An antiterrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday indicted seven policemen in a case pertaining to the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud in a fake encounter five years ago.

The judge of the ATC-XVI framed charges on the seven policemen — Amanullah Marwat, Shoaib Shaikh, Gada Hussain, Syed Sadaqat Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Raja Shamim Mukhtar and Riaz Ahmed — to which they pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

The ATC summoned prosecution witnesses on the next date of hearing.

The seven accused persons had surrendered before the court after an ATC had in January 2023 acquitted prime accused SSP Rao Anwar in the murder case.

The seven accused have been booked in cases registered at the Sachal and Shah Latif Town police stations under Sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting), 302 (murder), 109 (abetment), 344 (wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2024