SC directs to put Rao Anwar's name on ECL

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the interior ministry to put the name of suspended senior police officer Rao Anwar for alleged extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud on the Exit Control List (ECL) and summoned him to appear in person.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar while hearing a suo moto case also summoned Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh and members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the alleged encounter in which Naqeebullah was killed.

The chief justice observed that Rao Anwar was trying to flee from country and was stopped by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials at the immigration counter of Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad on Tuesday morning. He directed that his name should be included in the ECL immediately.

Whoever involved in the alleged encounter would be brought to justice and no one would be allowed to commit extra-judicial killings, he remarked.

On a bench's query, the Additional Attorney General (AAG) informed the court that Rao was removed from the post of senior superintendent of police Malir by IGP A.D. Khowaja soon after the inquiry team had submitted its initial report.

Subsequently, the bench adjourned the hearing till January 27 which would be held at the Supreme Court's Karachi Registry.

Rao Anwar is among the officials who are being investigated for their involvement in the alleged encounter. Naqeebullah, hailing from South Waziristan, was among the four suspects killed in that 'encounter' with a police team headed by Rao Anwar in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of the metropolis earlier this month.