Islamabad: Former senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Malir’s district in Pakistan Rao Anwar, who is accused in the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, was arrested on Thursday when he appeared before the Supreme Court.
According to the Dawn, Anwar, who was eluding law enforcement agencies for over a month, appeared before the court today.
His appearance came after the court had warned on Monday that stringent action would be taken against those providing shelter to Anwar.
Yesterday, a three-judge bench hearing the suo motu case against Mehsud’s murder, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered police to arrest Anwar.
“Take Rao Anwar into custody,” Nisar said after rejecting his request for protective bail.
Earlier on February 1, Nisar had questioned Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khowaja for not being able to arrest Anwar.
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.
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)