Naqeeb murder case put off till April 9 due to coronavirus lockdown

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the Naqeebullah murder case till April 9 due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The ATC-III put off the proceeding of the case until the next hearing and directed the investigation officer to present witness on April 9, only if the coronavirus situation was under control by then.

Twenty-three policemen, including former SSP Malir Rao Anwar, are charged with the murder of Naseemullah Mehsud aka Naqeebullah Mehsud who along with three others, Sabir, Nazar Jan and Ishaq, was killed in a fake encounter on the outskirts of the city on January 12, 2018.

Of the accused, Rao Anwar, Qamar Ahmed, Muhammad Yaseen, Supurd Hussain and Khizar Hayat are on bail. While 13 men, namely 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 men, namely Amanullah Marwat, Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib, Gada Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Sadaqat Hussain Shah, Rana Shamim and Riaz, have been declared proclaimed offenders. The court had begun the trial in March, 2019. Father of the slain youth, Muhammad Khan, who lodged the complaint against the police, has passed away. He, before his death, had expressed his distrust in the judicial system and the authorities for he was receiving death threats.

Rao Anwar had claimed that 27-year-old Naqeeb was a terrorist and killed with his accomplices in a shootout with law enforcers in the jurisdiction of the Shah Latif Town police station. Contrary to Anwar’s claim, the investigation team did not find any evidence of Naqeeb’s involvement in a terrorist activity. The team instead observed that Naqeeb’s social media profile portrayed him as a liberal and fun-loving man.