Entitled killers

For a person who built his career on denying suspects their lawful rights, disgraced police officer Rao Anwar should feel embarrassed by all the privileges he feels he deserves. Most prisoners charged with murder do not get the benefit of having their homes declared a sub-jail so that they can avoid serving actual jail out. They are not allowed to leave the country to perform Umrah and attend their children’s engagements, as Anwar has now requested of the Supreme Court. And they certainly do not deserve an extension after their retirement from police service. Yet Anwar does not believe the normal rules apply to him and he has requested that he be allowed to stay on as SSP even though he is currently suspended and has reached the age of retirement.

What is most galling is not Anwar’s sense of entitlement – as distasteful as it is – but that it appears he still enjoys the favour of some within the state. This is a man who has been accused of killing close to 500 people in ‘encounters’ during his 37-year career. Two separate Joint Investigation Teams have blamed him for the extra judicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud. If there is anyone who doesn’t deserve leniency, it is Rao Anwar.

Anwar’s conduct as a police officer should ensure both that he is not given an extension or allowed to leave the country. While it is true that the Exit Control List is often used as a political tool, Anwar’s inclusion in it is fully justified. After being accused of Naqeebullah’s murder he went into hiding and even tried to flee the country through Islamabad. During that time, he was able to evade capture but able to call into television shows in what amounted to taunts to law-enforcement agencies. The real question that needs to be investigated is how much protection Anwar still enjoys from the highest echelons of power. A one-man killing operation cannot survive for decades without at least tacit approval from those more powerful than an SSP. The comfort he now enjoys as an under-trial prisoner is surely due to the fact that he is still considered useful by those who have influence or who can be implicated in his crimes too. Justice for Naqeebullah and everyone else who dared cross the path of this police officer will only be done if the names of everyone involved are forced into public view, and by ensuring that Rao Anwar is dealt with according to the law.