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ATC records testimony of key witness in Naqeebullah murder case

By Our Correspondent
September 18, 2019

An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday recorded the testimony of a key witness in the Naqeebullah murder case.

The ATC-3 on the previous hearing had issued bailable warrants for the arrest of Hazrat Ali and Qasim after they failed to appear to record their statements.

According to a court staffer, the witness deposed that police picked them up along with Naqeebullah Mehsud from a hotel near Sohrab Goth and took to an undisclosed location where they were subjected to torture.

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, including Amanullah Marwat, Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib, Gada Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Sadaqat Hussain Shah, Rana Shamim and Riaz, are absconding. They have permanent warrants of arrest issued against them.

According to the prosecution, Naqeeb and his friends Ali and Qasim were picked up by the police on January 4, 2018, from a teashop on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road and tortured in captivity. Ali and Qasim were released two days later while Naqeebullah was killed in a fake police encounter on January 13.