KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday granted bail to six accused persons, including the former station house officer (SHO) of Shah Latif Town, in a case pertaining to the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud.

Six accused persons — then SHO of Shah Latif Town, sub-inspector Amanullah Marwat; assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gada Hussain; head constables Sadaqat Ali and Mohsin Abbasi; and constables Raja Shamim and Rana Riaz Ahmed — had filed post-arrest bail applications before the ATC-6 judge.

The applications were moved through counsel Farzana Mateen after the prosecution filed an application under Section 540 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), seeking to examine additional evidence at the stage of final arguments.

However, according to the defence counsel, the court has granted bail to six accused persons against surety bonds of Rs100,000 each, as it had also allowed the prosecution’s plea to examine further evidence, which led to a prolongation of the trial.

The case was registered at Sachal police station under Sections 365-A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security, etc.), 302 (murder), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.In 2024, an ATC had indicted the seven accused persons, including Shoaib Shaikh alias Shooter — who was already on bail — in the Naqeebullah murder case.

Naqeebullah, hailing from South Waziristan, was among four men killed in what was initially reported as an “encounter” with a police team headed by then senior superintendent of police Rao Anwar, in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of the metropolis earlier in January 2018.

Mr Anwar had alleged that Naqeebullah was a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant, but a statement reportedly issued by a spokesperson for TTP’s South Waziristan chapter termed the claim “baseless”, clarifying that the deceased had no links with the banned militant outfit.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026