Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Thursday came down hard on the top cop of Sindh police, AD Khowaja, for his failure to nab former SSP Malir Rao Anwar, who has been on the run since his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killing of one Naqeebullah Mehsud came to surface. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice was hearing a suo moto case on the extrajudicial murder of 27-year-old Mehsud who was gunned down, allegedly by SSP Anwar and his team, in a fake police encounter.
After being presented with an investigation report by Khowaja which found Naqeebullah to be innocent and said the deceased had been severely tortured in police custody, the Chief Justice remarked: "The state has been blamed for his murder. Those who are responsible for providing security are being accused of murder." The Chief Justice asked Khowaja what his force was doing when Anwar attempted to flee the country before going into hiding. "You did not stop Rao Anwar...don't you know that I'd given you 36 hours," the CJP grilled the top cop.
"Why did you wait for the victim's father to arrive? The parents were miles away from Karachi, how could they reach there so soon? Why did the police not alert all the airports of the country?" he questioned. "Rao Anwar's attempt to flee was thwarted by a brave daughter of FIA Immigration," said the Chief Justice referring to Anwar's attempt to fly to Dubai from Islamabad. "God knows what would have happened if he had managed to flee."
The Chief Justice reminded the Sindh police chief that the apex court had put its own neck on the line to keep him in the job when the provincial government tried to get rid of him. "Do you remember that we had ruled against your removal?" the CJP said, implying that he expects better from him. "We had faced strong criticism for that judgment," he added.
Khowaja offered to tender his resignation, at which the Chief Justice said: "What good would that do?" Khowaja in his defense said: "We are using all our resources to arrest him but Anwar has switched off his phones and he knows all the tricks to catching a suspect.
"His last known location was in Dhoke Paracha, Rawalpindi. We have teams operating in Lakki Marwat, Islamabad and interior Sindh. We don't have the ability to trace Whatsapp calls. We did write to ISI and IB about it," Khowaja told the court. "What writing a letter would do," Justice Nisar countered.
Earlier, Khowaja had submitted his report to the court which contained two major points of debate. It tried to determine if shootout in which Naqeebullah was killed was fake and also analyzed the victim's profile. The report said Naqeebullah along with two of his friends was picked up on January 3, kept in illegal custody and subjected to severe torture; his friends were released on January 6.
The report said Naqeebullah was frequently shifted from one place to another and that SI Imamullah Marwat and ASI Gada Hussain were present at the crime scene. The report noted that Naqeebullah was not involved in any terror-related activity and was a liberal-minded individual. The DG Civil Aviation submitted in court the affidavit statements regarding flights gone out of Pakistan between January 10 and 29.
He also briefed the court regarding the activities of private jets, saying: "Three flights of private jets have taken place." To this, the Chief Justice asked who the owner of the private jet was. "The contractor is Ghaus Sahab while the jet's owner is Malik Riaz," the DG answered. The Chief Justice asked an affidavit statement of Bahria Town CEO Ali Riaz to be submitted in a day or two. A letter written by Naqeebullah's father was also submitted in the court.
"Rao Anwar claims on the media that he is in Pakistan," the father stated. "Please ask the police how he disappeared during the investigation. The entire FATA awaits justice," he added. To this, the CJP said, "The people of FATA need not worry. Our hearts beat for them. Someday I will even conduct a hearing in FATA." Upon Khowaja's request, the Supreme Court directed the intelligence agencies to cooperate with the police and ordered that protection be arranged for the case's witnesses.
The court gave 10 more days for Anwar's arrest, instructing the DG FIA to seek Interpol's services and search for Anwar at all the airports of the world. The court also forbade media from broadcasting Anwar's messages.The hearing of the case was adjourned till February 13.