Sindh govt seeks help from provinces for arrest of absconder Rao Anwar

KARACHI: Sindh Home Department and Police have sought assistance from authorities in other provinces of the country to make their efforts in arrest of under-fire cop Rao Anwar amidst the court orders to arrest him within three days.

According to sources, Sindh government has asked the Inspector General of Police (IGPs), Railways and Airport officials of three provinces in writing to help the provincial government in making arrest of Anwar, who has recently went in hiding.

The passport and CNIC copies of the suspended cop have also been dispatched along with the letter seeking assistance from other provinces, sources said.

Moreover, the authorities have blocked airport entry passes – a certificate issued to government employees – of 13 other police personnel involved in the ‘fake’ encounter, claiming lives of three alleged terrorists including 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud from South Waziristan.

In the 15-page report, the inquiry committee investigating Naqeebullah Mehsud’s ‘extrajudicial killing’ had declared Naqeebullah innocent and rejected the claims made by suspended SSP Malir Rao Anwar in light of the evidences.

The report asserted that Naqeebullah alongside two other men named Qasim and Hazrat Ali were picked up by policemen in plain clothes on January 3.

The other two men were set free after three days on January 6 after giving bribes to the officers on demand for their safe release. The men have now become eye-witnesses in the case and documented their statements before the inquiry committee, the probing committee stated in its report.

Throwing light on the encounter site, the committee in its report has said that as many as 26 bullet casings of sub-machine guns have been recovered from the site and no evidence has been found of firing from the victims [alleged terrorists].

745 encounters in Malir district alone

The report also shared statistical details of encounters took place during tenure of suspended SSP Malir Rao Anwar from July 25, 2011 to January 19, 2018.

According to the report, a total number of 745 ‘registered’ encounters took place in the district during tenure of the beleaguered cop and as many as 444 accused were killed in the encounters, besides 891 suspects were arrested.

Investigating officers hold grudge against me: Rao Anwar

Standing firm against all charges earlier this week, Rao Anwar demanded formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising members of intelligence agencies to probe the ‘extrajudicial’ killing of 27-year-old Naqeebullah.

In a statement issued to media, the beleaguered cop hasdonce again termed charges again him as ‘baseless’. He said all the allegations have been levelled by officers holding a personal grudge against him.

The suspended SSP dispelled reports of going into hiding in his recent statement, as what he said, going somewhere to meet family members doesn’t violate any law.

He accused the investigating officers of misleading the family of Naqeebullah, while stating that he would soon appear before the courts.

Expressing no confidence in investing committee, Anwar said that he would soon disclose concrete evidences against the inquiry committee head AIG Sanaullah Abbasi and other Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials, adding, their own hands are not clean.