KARACHI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi on Saturday acquitted seven more policemen in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case, citing insufficient evidence, taking the total number of acquitted accused to 25.
The court cleared former SHO Amanullah Marwat, Shoaib Shooter, Guda Hussain, Sadaqat Hussain, Riaz Ahmed, Raja Shamim and Mohsin Abbas.
During the proceedings, defence counsel argued that no prosecution witness had told the court that the encounter in which Naqeebullah was killed had been staged.
The prosecution informed the court that the seven accused had previously been declared absconders and surrendered following the announcement of the verdict.
It further said former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and 18 other police officers and personnel had already been acquitted during earlier proceedings. With Saturday’s decision, all 25 individuals nominated in the case have now been acquitted.
The case dates back to January 2018, when 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud, also known as Naseemullah and a native of Waziristan, was killed along with three other men in an alleged encounter in Karachi. The incident sparked widespread protests and prompted a judicial and departmental investigation.
An inquiry committee led by then CTD Additional IG Sanaullah Abbasi later submitted its findings to the Supreme Court, stating that Naqeebullah had been killed in a staged encounter.
A case was subsequently registered against Rao Anwar and other members of his team after they failed to appear before investigators. Several suspects went into hiding following the formation of the inquiry committee.
The ATC formally indicted Rao Anwar and other suspects in March 2019. All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In January 2023, the ATC acquitted Rao Anwar and the other accused in the high-profile case, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
