Rao Anwar blames five subordinates for Naqeebullah’s murder

KARACHI: Former Malir Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar on Saturday blamed five of his subordinates for their involvement in the extrajudicial killing of South Waziristan native, Naqeebullah Mehsud, in Karachi.

The revelation was made by the former SSP Malir before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) and led by Sindh Additional IG Aftab Pathan.

The probe team completed its first session of investigation and recorded the initial statement of Rao Anwar and also visited the tea hotel from where Naqeebullah was arrested to record statements of witnesses.

Recording his statement before the JIT team, Anwar said that five of his subordinates are involved in Naqeebullah’s killing. He further said that some of the Sindh police officials are also hatching a conspiracy against him to frame him in the case.

The former SSP Malir moved the top court two days ago to order constitution of a new JIT to probe the Naqeebullah fake encounter case.

The review petition, filed by Chaudhry Akhtar Ali on behalf of Anwar, seeks the removal of Sindh AIG Aftab Pathan as the JIT head and requests the inclusion of intelligence officials in the team.

Anwar claimed the top court has appointed the “same officer who had earlier supervised the investigation and rendered an opinion” in the case. The former SSP also accused Sindh Police of ‘twisting’ facts. On March 21, a three-judge bench headed by CJP Saqib Nisar had ordered the constitution of a five-member JIT team presided over by Sindh AIG Aftab Pathan and comprising Zulfiqar Larak, Azad Ahmed Khan and Waliullah.

The bench had also dismissed a request made by Anwar’s counsel to include intelligence officials in the JIT. Informing him that the court shall constitute its own JIT, it directed the team to work independently.

Till date, investigators have failed to corroborate charges against Anwar. The former SSP has recorded a statement in his defence where he blamed subordinates for staging a fake encounter. The team has reportedly been questioning Anwar on the whereabouts of his team members.