Police arrest facilitator of Shoaib Shooter in Naqeebullah killing case

KARACHI: In another major breakthrough, Sindh Police arrested a facilitator of one of the main accused in extrajudicial killing of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud, ARY News reported on Saturday.

In an overnight raid at Janjal Goth on Friday, police arrested Aurangzeb Khan for assisting former Station House Officer (SHO) Shoaib Shaikh, better known as ‘Shoaib Shooter’, in fleeing to Lahore.

Shoaib Shooter is among the absconding officers, who went hiding soon after an investigation launched into the killing of slain youth from South Waziristan.

An FIR has been lodged in Gulshan-e-Maymar police station against the facilitator for helping the former SHO to escape investigation.

An Assistant Sub-inspector of Police (ASI) Ehsanullah Marwat, brother of SHO Shah Latif Town Amanullah Marwat and absconder himself, has also been nominated in the FIR for providing shelter to Shoaib Shooter.

According to police officials, Marwat assisted the accused throughout his journey from Karachi to Hyderabad, from where the accused got into the train and left for Lahore.

Shoaib Shooter is said to be a close aide of former SSP Malir Rao Anwar, a primary accused in the Naqeebullah murder case. The accused was also part of the team that carried out staged encounter, killing three people including Naqeebullah Mehsud.

Earlier on Feb 21, the police investigation team arrested constable Jameel Abbasi of Malir City police station during the raid.

Abbasi had been performing guard duty for Station House Officer (SHO) Shah Latif Town Amanullah Marwat, another absconding officer in the case.

The constable believed to be close to the absconding SHO Shah Latif. Former SSP Rao Anwar along with the SHO Shah Latif Town and 13 other policemen have been named as fugitive in Naqeebullah case.

The investigation team has sent the arrested constable to jail on judicial remand.

The investigators are still trying to trace the whereabouts of main accused former SSP Malir Rao Anwar who went in hiding after the murder incident.

Previously, the Ministry of Interior had put the name of suspended cop Rao Anwar on the Exit Control List (ECL) in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order.

In January, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) barred Anwar from fleeing the country amid ongoing court proceedings. Anwar was to board a Dubai-bound flight at the Benazir International Airport, Islamabad when he was stopped by the FIA officials.