Former SHO, five cops arrested as ATC denies bail in Naqeebullah murder case

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) dismissed on Thursday an application of six accused seeking confirmation of the interim pre-arrest bail granted to them in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.

Former SHO of Shah Latif Town Amanullah Marwat, along with former Sohrab Goth SHO Shoaib Shaikh, alias Shoaib Shooter, and the former’s five subordinates — Gada Hussain, Syed Sadaqat Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Raja Shamim Mukhtar and Riaz Ahmed — had surrendered in the court last month to stand trial after absconding for more than five years.

They turned up around five months after the court exonerated former Malir senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rao Anwar and 17 others from the charges of the extrajudicial killings of the young Naqeebullah, an aspiring fashion model hailing from South Waziristan, and three others in a staged encounter at an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of the port city in January 2018.

On Thursday, the ATC-XVI judge took up an application moved by the seven accused seeking confirmation of their pre-arrest bail in the case.

After hearing arguments from both the sides and perusing the case record, the judge dismissed the plea of six of them, but confirmed the bail of former Sohrab Goth SHO Shaikh. Subsequently, Marwat and his five subordinates were taken into custody and shifted to jail.

State Prosecutor Zulfikar Hyder contended that the six accused, including Marwat, were present at the place of the incident and took part in the alleged shootout.

A total of five FIRs that were lodged against the four victims of the extrajudicial killing by then Shah Latif Town SHO on various charges such as attempted murder and possession of illicit arms had been quashed as bogus by the trial court but none of the accused had challenged that order, the prosecutor said, adding that the suspects absconded for over five years.

The prosecutor, therefore, requested the judge to dismiss their pleas for the bail confirmation. Meanwhile, the defence lawyer argued that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the charges against his clients. He said the applicants were ready to face trial and pleaded with the judge to confirm their bail.

On January 23 this year, the ATC had acquitted Anwar and 17 of his subordinates by giving them the benefit of the doubt and issued perpetual warrants for the arrest of the seven absconding accused.