Naqeeb murder: intelligence agencies didn’t share information about terrorists with Rao Anwar

KARACHI: Former SSP Malir Rao Anwar is in hot waters after the intelligence agencies categorically denied sharing any information with Anwar and his team regarding the presence of terrorists in Usman Khaskheli Goth area of Shah Latif Town – the Karachi locality in which Naqeebullah was killed in a fake encounter earlier this month.

Briefing journalists after the ‘encounter’, Anwar had claimed that the intelligence agencies had shared credible information regarding the presence of suspects in a house inUsman Khaskheli Goth, upon which he and his team reached there and killed four suspects associated with banned terror outfits.

The next day, an FIR was registered at the Shah Latif Town police station which stated that police raided a hideout in Usman Khaskheli Goth to arrest terror suspects. However, during the raid four terror suspects were killed in a exchange of gunfire with the police team headed by SSP Rao Anwar. Naseemullah alias Naqeebullah, 27, son of Khan Nawaz, was among the four alleged terrorists gunned down in the encounter.

However, reports soon emerged that Naqeebullah, whose real name was Naseemullah and hailed from Waziristan, was not a terrorist and was murdered in a staged encounter by the Malir police.

As rights activists took to the streets, Sindh Inspector General AD Khowaja formed a three-member team and appointed Additional Inspector General of Police Counter Terrorism Department Dr Sanaullah Abbasi as its head. The team also included DIG East Sultan Ali Khowaja and DIG South Azad Khan as members of the probe team.

The head of the investigation panel Sanaullah Abbasi told The News that they checked the contents of the FIR lodged on Jan 13 Shah Latif Town police station and found mention of an intelligence agency informing the police about the presence of terrorists hiding there. Sanaullah said when we verified the information, the intelligence agency denied sharing any such information with the former SSP Rao Anwar in this regard.

Following the crime scene investigation, Abbasi said it was established that no bullet was fired from inside the house, where SSP Anwar and his team claimed to have killed the four suspected terrorists, including Naqeebullah.

Abbasi said when he called SSP Anwar to record his statement, he claimed that Naqeebullah was a terrorist. To authenticate his claim, “Anwar asked the probe team to verify his claim by asking Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorist Qari Ehsanullah imprisoned at Karachi’s Central Prison. When we checked from Ehsanullah about his association with Naqeebullah, the former denied knowing him,” the Addl IGP added.

Abbasi said the former SSP Anwar also provided details of the crimes committed by Naqeebullah, but all of his claims have proved baseless upon verification.