ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Friday issued a contempt notice to ex-Malir SSP Rao Anwar after he failed to show up before a judicial bench despite being issued a protective bail in the extrajudicial murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud.
A three-member bench, headed by the Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, also directed the State Bank of Pakistan to seize Anwar’s bank accounts. Naqeebullah’s father was also present in the apex court.
Talking to the media before the hearing, Naqeebullah’s father said, “my son was innocent,” adding that they expect the Supreme Court to do justice.
#RaoAnwar didnt appear before SC despite SC providing all opportunity. SC has issued directions to all agencies to arrest Anwar, directed all agencies to submit independent reports, directed SBP to freeze Anwar’s accounts and issued show cause notice to Anwar for contempt pic.twitter.com/eZZTXQyal1
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) February 16, 2018
The former police officer is the primary accused in the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud’s in Karachi last month.
“Rao Anwar called me on Whatsapp after the last hearing to confirm that he will appear before the court today (Friday),” Sindh IGP AD Khawaja informed the bench.
“Enough time has passed, it seems Rao Anwar doesn’t want to appear before the Court, we responded positively to his letter”, the CJP remarked after waiting for an hour.
The top judge remarked that it seems Anwar has lost a big opportunity by deciding not to appear in court.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/another-innocent-man-killed-in-karachi-police-encounter/
After issuing a contempt notice to Anwar, the court revoked his protective bail and ordered the ISI, MI and IB to assist in nabbing Anwar and submit a report in this regard in 15 days.
The court also directed the IGPs of all provinces to provide protection to the witnesses in the case after Khawaja informed the bench of threats to witnesses.
Mehsud, a 27-year-old native of Waziristan, was among three others who were accused of being terrorists and killed by then-Malir SSP in Karachi on January 13 in what was later determined to be a fake encounter. Anwar and most members of his encounter team have since gone into hiding.
Following claims of innocence from Naqeebullah’s family, an inquiry committee was formed which cleared the deceased 27-year-old of any wrongdoing.
An FIR was registered against Anwar and others in his raiding party. Since then, Anwar has been in hiding and the Sindh Police, despite the Supreme Court-directed assistance of intelligence agencies, has been unable to trace the police officer.
The hearing on suo moto notice was postponed for fifteen days.
