Indictment of Rao Anwar, others in Naqeeb murder case set for March 5

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Wednesday fixed a case of killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud for indictment of former Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwar and about 17 other detained police officials on March 5.

Rao Anwar is accused of being involved in the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud — an aspiring model and shopkeeper from South Waziristan — and three others in a fake police encounter in Karachi, but he is currently out on bail.

Anwar, the then DSP Qamar Ahmed Shaikh and their 13 detained and seven absconding subordinates had been booked for allegedly killing four persons in a fake shoot-out after declaring them militants associated with banned outfits in Shah Latif Town on January 13, 2018.

The ATC-III judge on Tuesday heard the case in the judicial complex inside the central prison.

The special public prosecutor moved an application under Section 21M of the Anti-Terrorism Act, seeking a joint trial of Rao Anwar and his 17 accomplices.

The SSP Malir had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on February 14, urging the court to review its previous order and remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) in Naqeebullah murder case.

The top court on January 10 had rejected Anwar’s plea to have his name removed from the ECL. He claimed in his plea that his role had never been proved in the Naqeebullah murder case hence his name should be struck off the ECL.