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The extra-judicial murder of 27-year-old Naqibullah Mehsud has sparked fire all over the country. This is the first time that a police ‘encounter’ has been scrutinized in such a manner.
Young Naqibullah was murdered after being picked up by Ex-SSP Malir Rao Anwar and his team. After not giving the desired amount of bribe, Naqib was declared a terrorist of the TTP and murdered in a fake encounter.
Little did Anwar and his team realize, that Naqib was a social media celebrity, with over 20,000 followers. The social media protest soon turned into a country wide protest, where people vouched for Naqib and his life, that he was a hardworking Pashtun who wanted his son to be part of the Pakistan Army.
After all shades of terrorism disappeared from Naqib’s personality, the formed JIT under Sanaullah Abbasi proved that Rao Anwar murdered Naqib in a fake encounter. Ever since then, the police has been searching for Rao Anwar. In the latest update, Sindh police has dispatched four teams to Punjab, KP and Balochistan to find and arrest the disgraced SSP.
The Sindh government has asked for ‘cooperation’ of all provinces in the suo-moto case to find the accused Ex-SSP Rao Anwar. The Home Department of Sindh has written a letter for other provinces, to help locate Rao Anwar, and also arrest Zameer Dawar, a man who placed a bounty on Anwar’s head.
“He [Rao Anwar] reached Islamabad via a PIA flight on January 20. While on January 23, FIA officials and immigration department stopped him from fleeing to Dubai from the Islamabad airport. Anwar is reportedly trying to escape the country to dodge the ongoing investigation,” an excerpt from the letter reads.
Deadline after deadline, Rao Anwar still successfully remains in hiding from authorities. It is also being alleged that Anwar might have fled to Afghanistan via the Chaman Border from Balochistan, as the police officer had links with a lot of different smugglers in the largest province of the country.
Previously, Anwar tried to flee the country with his UAE Akamah, but was stopped by FIA officials in Islamabad, and removed from the plane which was to take him out of the country. Since then, his name has been placed on the Exit Control List.
Everyday, protests emerge, demanding the quick arrest of Rao Anwar and justice for Naqibullah Mehsud’s murder. Sindh police is trying its best to locate the disgraced cop who is answerable for over 60 encounters similar to Naqib’s.
