News Analysis |
Hours after a three-member probe committee tasked with probing the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in a police encounter submitted its report to the Sindh IGP, SSP Malir Rao Anwar was removed from his post. The decision was taken by Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khawaja, giving the charge of SSP Malir to SSP City Adeel Chandio, while SSP Shiraz Nazeer will take on the role of SSP City.
According to media sources, the government has also put the officer on the Exit Control List (ECL). The people on the ECL are prohibited from leaving the country. The committee submitted its initial report to IG Sindh last night, declaring the deceased innocent, the TV channel reported citing unnamed sources.
They said Mehsud was arrested by policemen in plain clothes on January 3 from Gul Sher Agha Hotel in Sohrab Goth and then murdered on January 12th. Mehsud’s relatives also stated that he previously worked in a petrol pump.
The probe committee, headed by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Additional IG Sanaullah Abbasi, has termed SSP Rao Anwar’s allegations against Naqeebullah baseless, adding that no such evidence has been found that the deceased had affiliation with any terrorist group or proscribed outfit.
It is learnt that the committee in its report has also recommended registering a case against SSP Malir Rao Anwar and other security personnel involved in extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah that sparked countrywide protests. The committee has also suggested that the name of “encounter specialist” Rao Anwar should be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
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SSP Rao Anwar claims that Naqeebullah was a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist but no evidence was presented to back his claim. A statement reportedly issued by the TTP denied Anwar’s claim and clarified that the deceased had no ties with the TTP.
There was a campaign on social media to demand justice for the death of Mehsud. Family and friends of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a youth from the country’s tribal belt, accused Malir SSP Rao Anwar of killing the youth in a fake encounter in Karachi after kidnapping.
The move was largely due to public outcry and moves by the PTI as well as a suo moto notice by the Chief Justice. Besides a campaign against Anwar on social media, a large number of people, including civil society activists, members of political parties and Pashtun tribal leaders, from various Pashtun neighborhoods demonstrated against the officer at the press club.
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The killing of Naqeeb has also led to ethnic based campaigning with many Pashtuns citing the local police as a detriment to their daily lives in Karachi. Rao Anwar is a notorious figure known as the ‘encounter specialist’ in the police and unlike others; he owns the title irrespective of the controversy surrounded by it. “There’s no other remedy in dealing with them since most of their chain of command is based in Afghanistan,” Anwar once remarked in an interview while talking about his encounters.
The decision was taken by Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khawaja, giving the charge of SSP Malir to SSP City Adeel Chandio, while SSP Shiraz Nazeer will take on the role of SSP City.
Naqeebullah Mehsud, whose name is Naseemullah on his identity card, was a shopkeeper and a model. Various pictures of his modeling shootouts were presented by relatives, and can be seen on his Facebook profile. After the news of his death emerged, a huge number of people posted condolence messages on his Facebook profile, and there has been a huge outcry on social media regarding his death. There was a campaign on social media to demand justice for the death of Mehsud.
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Family and friends of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a youth from the country’s tribal belt, accused Malir SSP Rao Anwar of killing the youth in a fake encounter in Karachi after kidnapping. They said Mehsud was arrested by policemen in plain clothes on January 3 from Gul Sher Agha Hotel in Sohrab Goth and then murdered on January 12th. Mehsud’s relatives also stated that he previously worked in a petrol pump and he had no ties with any militant groups.