ATC acquits 7 more policemen ‘for lack of evidence’ in Naqeebullah Mehsud’s murder case

KARACHI: After the acquittal of former Malir SSP Rao Anwar, an antiterrorism court on Saturday acquitted seven more policemen in a case over the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others in a staged encounter in January 2018. The then SHOs of Shah Latif Town and Sachal police, Amanullah Marwat and Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib alias Shooter; assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gada Hussain; head constables Sadaqat Ali and Mohsin Abbasi; and constables Raja Shamim and Rana Riaz Ahmed were facing trial for allegedly killing Naseemullah, better known as Naqeebullah Mehsud, Mohammad Sabir, Nazar Jan and Mohammad Ishaq in an alleged staged encounter in January 2018. After examining the witnesses and hearing concluding arguments from both sides, the judge of ATC-VI exonerated the accused persons for lack of evidence. Prosecutor Anila Malik argued that the prosecution examined over 40 witnesses, including star witnesses and they linked the accused persons with the commission of offences and documentary evidence also corroborated their testimonies. Former SSP Rao Anwar was acquitted in the same case in 2023 She also contended that the prosecution established its case against all the accused persons beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt and pleaded for conviction. However, defence lawyer Farzana Mateen submitted that all accused persons facing trial were framed with mala fide intention and that out of 40, not a single witness directly implicated any of the accused in the case. She also maintained that there were glaring contradictions in the evidence of prosecution witnesses while two star witnesses about the abduction of Hazrat Ali and Muhammad Qasim did not associate the present accused persons in their statements recorded under Section 164 CrPC by a judicial magistrate and had also not identified these accused persons as the culprits during their evidence before the trial court. The defence lawyer further argued that there was no allegation of abduction of the deceased against the accused persons and the prosecution has also failed to prove their participation in the alleged encounter. She maintained that many accused persons, including a former senior superintendent of police, had already been exonerated by the trial court in the first round of litigation for want of evidence and she pleaded for acquittal of the present accused persons as well. Initially, the then SSP Malir Rao Anwar, along with his around two dozen subordinates, had been booked for allegedly murdering Naqeebullah and others in an alleged staged encounter in a Malir locality and dubbing them as militants. According to the prosecution, Naqeebullah was picked up with his two friends allegedly by eight to nine subordinates of Rao Anwar in civvies. Later, the other two detainees were set free while the whereabouts of Mehsud remained unknown and his mobile phone was also found powered off, as the former SSP allegedly kept him in wrongful detention. It further stated that on Jan 17, the captive’s relatives came to know through the media that Rao Anwar and his associates allegedly killed Mehsud and three others in a staged encounter in a Shah Latif Town area on Jan 13 and dubbed them as Taliban militants. The provincial police officer had constituted a three-member inquiry committee that found Rao Anwar and his associates involved in the case, it added. However, in January 2023, the trial court acquitted the former SSP and 17 members of his team by extending the benefit of doubt. As the state had opted not to impugn the acquittal order, a brother of Naqeeb had filed an appeal before the Sindh High Court against their acquittal. The present accused persons were absconders during the first trial, and after the exoneration of SSP and others, they had surrendered before the court to face the trial, and all of them were set free on bail in April this year. Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026

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