Karachi: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday questioned Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khowaja for not being able to arrest the District Malir’s former senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rao Anwar.
He is guilty in the extra-judicial killing of 27-year-old, Naqeebullah Mehsud.
According to the Dawn, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, presided by the chief justice, was conducting a suo motu hearing in the case.
“The state has been blamed for his murder. Those who were responsible for providing security are being accused of murder,” Nisar said.
Nisar questioned Khowaja over his failure to nab Anwar when he was trying to flee the country before going into hiding.
“What was the Sindh Police doing?” he questioned. “You did not stop Rao Anwar. Should you not have known [his whereabouts]? I had given you 36 hours.”
“Why did you wait for the victim’s father to arrive? The parents were miles away from Karachi, how could they have reached there so soon? Why did the police not alert all the airports of the country.
“Rao Anwar’s attempt to flee was thwarted by a brave daughter of FIA Immigration,” said the judge, referring to Anwar’s attempt to fly to Dubai from Islamabad. “God knows what would have happened had he managed to flee.”
Earlier this week, an inquiry committee found Anwar guilty of committing the crime.
The team, in its report, cited eyewitness’ accounts and said Naqeebullah was ‘picked up’, along with two others on the suspicion of their linkage with terrorist groups on January 3 by security personnel and taken to the Sachal Police Post before being moved to another location.
Last Thursday, Karachi police launched a manhunt to nab Anwar as he was reportedly gone into hiding after he was stopped from travelling abroad on Tuesday.
He was offloaded at Benazir International Airport, Rawalpindi, from a Dubai bound international flight.
“It is confirmed that they are not in their homes and have been gone into hiding. It seems that they are all together but they are trying to dodge investigators by showing their mobile phone locations in various parts of the country,” The Express Tribune quoted a senior official privy to the investigations as saying.
“But we are continuously trying to trace their locations. Besides taking technical assistance, we are also using our human intelligence network to trace and arrest them”, the official added.
Rao Anwar and other officers are in the dock for killing at least four men, during what they claimed was a raid on a suspected Taliban hideout in Karachi.
Relatives of Naqeebullah from South Waziristan tribal district rejected claims of him having militant links and maintained that he was an aspiring model who had been a resident of Karachi since 2008.
They added that Naqeebullah was looking for a job and had been running a shop in the city.
His killing evoked a national outcry and triggered protest rallies in several cities. (ANI)