KARACHI: An antiterrorism court reserved on Tuesday its order on a bail application of suspended SSP Rao Anwar in the second case of foisting weapons and explosives on Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others.
The then Malir SSP Rao Anwar, the then DSP Qamar Ahmed Shaikh along with their 10 absconding subordinates have been booked in the second case for foisting pistols and hand grenades on Naqeeb and three others after killing them in a staged shoot-out in Shah Latif Town on Jan 13.
The ATC-II judge, who is conducting trial of the detained senior police superintendent and his 11 subordinates, after hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence sides, fixed July 20 for announcement of its order reserved on Rao’s bail plea and July 28 for announcement of its order reserved on other policemen’s bail applications.
Decision about other policemen due on 28th
At the outset, advocate Salahuddin Panhwar, counsel for the complainant Mohammad Khan, Naqeeb’s father, produced certified copies of two applications which his client had filed in the Sindh High Court, stating that he had lost confidence in the trial court’s judge and pleading to transfer the proceedings of the cases to any other antiterrorism court.
Therefore, he pleaded the judge to adjourn proceedings in the present and other relevant cases until the decision was passed by the SHC.
However, the ATC-II judge continued the hearing observing that no intimation or order had been received by her office from the SHC.
She also returned applications to the counsel asking to mention correct numbers of the cases sought to be transferred from her court to any other.
At this, the complainant’s lawyer boycotted the proceedings.
Last week, the same court had granted bail to the undertrial police officer in the main case pertaining to alleged kidnapping for ransom of Mehsud, a young aspiring model from Waziristan, along with three others and their extrajudicial killing in an alleged fake encounter.
In his arguments, the defence counsel for Rao Anwar, Amir Mansoob Qureshi, maintained that his client being the then SSP Malir was not involved in alleged foisting of arms and explosives on the victims.
He maintained that the then investigating officer SSP Abid Qaimkhani had filed a report under B (bogus) class in five cases regarding alleged recovery against Naqeeb, Mohammad Sabir, Nazar Jan and Mohammad Ishaq after their killing in a shoot-out, declaring them fake cases.
But, the ATCs’ administrative judge had not passed any order for registering a case against the police team for allegedly foisting the arms and explosives, yet the then IO Abid Qaimkhani lodged the present case.
He blamed that the applicant was framed in the criminal cases on the basis of professional rivalry. Mr Qureshi mentioned that the court had last week granted bail to the former SSP on the ground that the prosecution had failed to establish his presence at the scene, where the four men were allegedly killed in the fake encounter.
Since the applicant was not present at the scene, therefore, he had nothing to do with the second case pertaining to recovery of arms and explosives, as alleged by the prosecution, from the victims, he added. He pleaded to grant bail to the applicant.
The special public prosecutor Nazeer Ahmed argued that the findings of the police investigation and the joint investigation team constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court had righty investigated the facts, which suggested that the former SSP was present at the crime scene at the time the four men were killed.