ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a contempt of court notice to former SSP Malir Rao Anwar over his failure to turn up before it in a case pertaining to the extrajudicial murder of a young man from South Waziristan.
Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, the three-judge bench, ordered the authorities concerned to freeze the bank accounts and assets of the absconding officer.
At the start of the hearing, the chief justice asked Sindh police chief Allah Dino Khowaja whether or not Rao Anwar has arrived at the court.
On which, he replied that the suspended police officer has not arrived yet.
CJP Nisar observed that Rao Anwar missed a good opportunity to surrender himself despite having been granted protective bail.
He noted it was the duty of the IG Sindh to find the former SSP Malir and assured that the court was ready to extend any kind of cooperation for the purpose.
The court called for a short break so that Anwar could show up, but he didn’t appear.
Resuming hearing after the break, the chief justice observed it seemed that he will not appear.
He directed the police to leave no stone unturned to bring him to book and provide protection to all witnesses in the case.
The chief justice directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to extend cooperation to the police to track down the police officer.
He noted that justice may be delayed in the case, but no culprit will go unpunished under the law.
CJP Nisar said his sympathies were with the victim’s family and that he would do whatever he can to ensure provision of justice in the case.
The hearing was adjourned for 15 days.
The apex court had taken a suo motu notice of the murder of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud from South Waziristan who was killed in a staged encounter led by Rao Anwar in Karachi on January 13.
The murder triggered widespread outrage on social media when the family of aspiring fashion model rejected claims that Mehsud was a member of a terrorist outfit and had any criminal record.
At the previous hearing, in a letter to the chief justice, the fugitive officer claimed that he was innocent and that he was not present at the site of the encounter, where Naqeeb was killed.
He demanded that a free and fair joint investigation should be constituted to look into the allegations against him.
The court had asked Rao Anwar to appear in the next hearing of the case and restrained police from arresting him.
