SC gives IG three days to submit report on Rao Anwar’s arrest

Giving three days time to arrest absconding Rao Anwar, the Supreme Court (SC) directed Sindh Inspector General of Police Allah Dino Khawaja on Friday to also submit the progress report on March 19 regarding the arrest made in Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.

During today's hearing, IG Khawaja sought time to trace Anwar, to which the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar asked how much time he needed. The IG replied that progress will be made in the next two to three days, local media reported.

The CJP was also informed by the IG that he has acquired the CCTV footage regarding Anwar’s attempted escape from Islamabad airport. The SC then adjourned the hearing till March 19, ordering the IG to submit the report in three days.

SC receives another letter from absconding Rao Anwar

On March 14, the SC had received a second letter Anwar, in which the absconding officer had asked court to unfreeze his bank accounts. Before that, Anwar had written another letter in which he claimed that he was innocent and that he was not present at the site of the encounter when Mehsud was killed. Anwar had also asked for a free and fair joint investigation.

The former Malir Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) is wanted in the extra-judicial murder of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud and has yet to be arrested. The former SSP is in hiding ever since he tried to flee the country.

Naqeebullah, a native of Waziristan, was killed along with three other suspected terrorists on January 13 in an alleged encounter with a police team headed by Anwar. However, Naqeebullah’s family has claimed that the deceased was innocent and was killed in a ‘fake’ encounter.