SSP Malir Rao Anwar removed from post over Naqeebullah's death in 'shootout'

KARACHI: Inspector General of Police in Sindh Allah Dino Khowaja has removed SSP Malir Rao Anwar from his post on the recommendations of a three-member committee formed to investigate the killing of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud in an allegedly fake shootout.

Quoting official sources, ARY News reported,  the committee, headed by Additional IG CTD Sanaullah Abbasi and comprising DIG East Sultan Khawaja and DIG South Azad Khan, recommended the provincial police chief to suspend SSP Anwar.

They said the probe body couldn’t find satisfactory evidence showing involvement of Naqeebullah in criminal activities.

It has also been decided to place the name of the police officer, called an encounter specialist by some people, on the no-fly list until he is absolved of allegations levelled against him.

On January 13, Rao Anwar had claimed to have shot dead four members of the defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in an encounter near Shah Latif Town in Karachi.

Family members of one of the killed terror suspects, Naqeebullah Mehsud, claimed that he was killed in a fake encounter, triggering widespread public outrage.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday took suo motu notice of the killing of 27-year-old man in an alleged fake encounter and sought a report from the IG Sindh within seven days.

SSP Anwar a day earlier appeared before the probe, maintaining that Naqeebullah was involved in unlawful activities.

Talking briefly to media, Anwar said the killed suspect was involved in a case pertaining to the kidnapping for ransom registered back in 2014.

“Has his family reported about [Naqeeb] disappearance on January 3 at any police station?” he asked in response to the family’s claim that the deceased was abducted on aforementioned date from Sohrab Goth before an alleged ‘extrajudicial killing’.