Naqeebullah murder case: ATC acquits Rao Anwar and 17 others after five years

An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Monday acquitted former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and 17 others in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case, filed five years ago.

ATC XVI judge, in a short verdict pronounced at the Karachi Central Prison, said that the prosecution had failed to submit sufficient evidence against Anwar and other accused persons.

The Naqeebullah murder case was registered on January 23, 2018.

The names of more than 90 witnesses were included in the challan.

As many as 51 witnesses’ statements were recorded in the case.

However, seven witnesses of the prosecution retracted their statements given to the police.

Naqeebullah Mehsud, hailing from South Waziristan, was among four men killed in an ‘encounter’ with a police team headed by Rao Anwar in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of Karachi earlier in January 2018.

The police party had dubbed the victims as militants linked to the “Islamic State and Taliban” in a fake encounter on January 13, 2018.

It took the court took five years to conclude the trial of the murder!

Lawyer and human rights activist Jibran Nasir, who is representing the legal heirs of Naqeeb, following the court’s verdict in a tweet, said that his clients will appeal today’s judgment before the high court.