KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday turned down former Malir senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rao Anwar’s request seeking an exemption from personal appearances in a case pertaining to the murder of Waziristan native Naqeebullah Mehsud in a police ‘encounter’.
In his petition, Anwar insisted that he faced security threats from terrorist groups since he had conducted operations against them during his tenure as a police officer. He urged the court to exempt him from appearing in person, unless it was required by the court for hearing of the ongoing murder case in which he is the chief suspect.
The request was opposed by Salahuddin Panhwar, counsel of Naqeeb’s father, who said that Anwar’s claims of facing security threats did not stand as he was not a serving police officer anymore.
The former SSP’s application was not maintainable under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, he added. The ATC-III judge reserved his verdict after hearing the arguments presented by both sides.