Naqeebullah murder: Crime scene investigation shows how fake evidence was planted

The crime scene investigation of the January 13 fake encounter, allegedly led by District Malir’s suspended SSP Rao Anwar, has been completed with the arrival of a Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) report, which has confirmed that the blood samples found on a carpet at a farmhouse in Shah Latif Town belong to slain Naqeebullah Mehsud and three other men.

Officials privy to this development have told The News that the team investigating the encounter, in which Naseemullah alias Naqeebullah Mehsud was shot dead along with three men, visited the crime scene and found many spots of blood on the carpets where SSP Anwar and his team had killed them.

The officials said the farmhouse where the encounter took place had three rooms and, according to suspended SSP Anwar, two men each were present inside two rooms while the third room was not in the use of anyone.

“When a team of investigators visited the crime scene, they found many blood spots on the carpets of two rooms where the dead bodies of the suspects were found, and they were confused and thought that such a large number of blood spots cannot belong to just four men,” said an official.

The officials said the investigators were of the view that more than four people might have been killed on the crime scene or the farmhouse may be used by police officer Anwar for carrying out staged encounters.

“To get over this suspicion, investigators sent pieces of carpets to a Sindh forensic science department, and the examination report has just confirmed that this was human blood.” The officials said they did not have any facility to ascertain whose blood it was, and that was why they discussed the issue with Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) AD Khowaja, who allocated Rs400,000 to get the blood samples tested by the PFSA. “We sent clothes carrying blood spots of the suspects and pieces of the carpets with bloodstains to the PFSA for DNA analysis and a PFSA report has confirmed that the blood spots found on the carpets belong to the four suspects.”

Farmhouse owner

A relative of the owner of the farmhouse where the January 13 shootout took place appeared and told police that they had no connection with Anwar and his team.

East Zone Investigation-II Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case Investigation Officer (IO) Abid Hussain Qaimkhani told The News that a man, Muhammad Akram Kalmati, arrived at Shah Lateef Town police station, and told police that this farmhouse was owned by his brother-in-law, who had transferred its ownership to his son before his death.

Kalmati in his statement to police said his nephew, the real owner, is in abroad for education, and adopted a view that he and his family have no connection either with suspended SSP Anwar or his team.

Qaimkhani said Kalmati, in his statement, told the police that earlier they used the place to run the business of construction material, and later they built a farmhouse there.

He said they ran the business for some time before they closed it down due to financial losses in 2012. He added that the farmhouse was not in the use of anyone and he did not know about the alleged suspects, who, according to suspended SSP Anwar, had been using it for quite some time.

Casings mismatched

SSP Qaimkhani said the investigators found 26 casings of the bullets fired from a sub machinegun (SMG) from the crime scene, and they sent them and the weapon, but the forensic analysis confirmed that the weapon handed over by Anwar and his team and the recovered casings mismatched.

The investigation officer was of the view that Anwar and his team hid the casings of the bullets in the encounter, and left the casings of the bullets fired from the SMG, which was actually not used in the exchange of fire. The SMG bullet casings were found all at the same spot, disproving the claim that those bullets had actually been fired during the encounter.

SSP Qaimkhani said the investigators found a used hand grenade from a room of the crime scene, and a Bomb Disposal Squad report said there was no sign of a hand grenade explosion inside or outside the farmhouse. He said he agreed with the BDS report and was not ready to accept that the hand grenade was exploded by the alleged suspects.