ATC summons key witnesses in Naqeebullah murder case

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism judge on Tuesday summoned four key witnesses in Naqeebullah’s murder case to appear in court on August 17 to record their testimonies against policemen accused of involvement in the felony.

According to the prosecution, Naseemullah Mehsud, aka Naqeebullah, 27, was killed along with three others, Sabir, Nazar Jan and Ishaq, in a fake encounter in Shah Latif Town on January 13, 2018.

Twenty-three policemen have been charged with the murder of Naqeeubullah. Of these, five -- former SP Anwar Ahmed Khan, aka Rao Anwar, Qamar Ahmed Shaikh, Muhammad Yaseen, Supurd Hussain and Khizar Hayat -- are on bail.

Thirteen others -- Allah Yar Kaka, Muhammad Iqbal, Arshad Ali, Ghulam Nazuk, Abdul Ali, Shafiq Ahmed, Shakeel, Muhammad Anar, Khair Muhammad, Faisal Mehmood, Ali Akbar, Raees Abbas Zaidi and Syed Imran Kazmi -- are in custody. Seven defendants -- Amanullah Marwat, Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib, Gada Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Sadaqat Hussain Shah, Rana Shamim and Riaz -- are absconding. The case against the absconding suspects will remain pending until their arrest or surrender before the court. The court previously had issued perpetual warrants of arrest against them as investigators submitted to the court that they had gone into hiding. The ATC-III judge directed the police to ensure the presence of the witnesses, whose identities have been withheld, in the court at the next hearing as two of them failed to appear in Tuesday’s hearing. Meanwhile, the court issued notices to the prosecution and complainant sides to submit their arguments over bail applications moved by Zaidi and Kazmi, who are currently in jail.

The accused were indicted in two FIRs, 40/2018 registered at the Sachal police station on the complaint of Naqeebullah’s father Khan Muhammad and an FIR (142/2018) registered at the Shah Latif Town police station on the complaint of the state, on March 25 this year. Both the FIRs have the same set of accused. The FIR 40/2018 pertains to the kidnapping of Naqeebullah for ransom, his unlawful detention and murder in a fake encounter. The FIR 142/2018 is about foisting bogus cases on the deceased about recoveries of arms and ammunition on him.

Naqeeb and his friends Hazrat Ali and Qasim were picked up by the police on January 4 last year from a teashop named Sher Agha Hotel on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road. They were kept in illegal confinement and badly tortured. Ali and Qasim were released two days later while Naqeeb was killed in a fake police encounter on January 13. Anwar had claimed that the 27-year-old was a terrorist and was killed with his accomplices during a fake shootout with law enforcers in the jurisdiction of the Shah Latif Town police station. Contrary to Anwar’s repeated claim, there is no evidence of Naqeeb’s involvement in any terrorist activity. His social media profile portrays him as a liberal and fun-loving young man with a penchant for modelling. Regarding the claim of an exchange of gunfire, the examination of the crime scene found that no shots were fired from the inside of the house where the alleged terrorists were supposedly hiding. No hand grenade was hurled either.