Killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud

Police killing of Muhammad Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud
Date13 January 2018; 6 years ago (2018-01-13)[1]
Time3:21 p.m. (PST, UTC+05:00)[2]
VenueAn abandoned poultry farm[1]
LocationUsman Khaskheli Goth, Shah Latif Town, Karachi, Pakistan[1]
CauseExtrajudicial murder by police[1]
MotiveMoney[3]
Deaths4[4]
ConvictedSSP Rao Anwar's police team[1]
SentenceNo prosecutions; but SSP Rao Anwar and SP Altaf Sarwar Malik were suspended from their posts[5]

Naseemullah (Urdu/Pashto: نسيم الله), better known as Naqeebullah Mehsud (نقيب الله محسود),[6] was killed on 13 January 2018 in Karachi, Pakistan, during a fake encounter staged by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Karachi's Malir District, Rao Anwar.[7][8] On 3 January, Naqeebullah was kidnapped along with two of his friends, Hazrat Ali and Muhammad Qasim, by Rao Anwar's men in plainclothes from Gulsher Agha Hotel in Karachi.[9][10] On 6 January, both of his friends were freed by the police,[11] but Naqeebullah was kept in captivity, tortured, and then killed on 13 January in a fake encounter in which he was shot twice in the back.[3] Alongside Naqeebullah, three other men namely Muhammad Sabir and Muhammad Ishaq from Bahawalpur and Nazar Jan Mahsud from South Waziristan were also killed by the police in the staged encounter, the latter of whom was shot from a close range.[4][12] On 17 January, Naqeebullah's dead body was handed over to his relatives at the Chhipa Welfare Association morgue in Karachi.[13] On 18 January, his body was taken by his relatives to Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Islamic funeral prayer was performed for him,[14] and on the same day, he was buried at his hometown Makeen, South Waziristan.[15] The fake encounter sparked countrywide protests against extrajudicial killings in Pakistan.[16]

Referring to the killings, the police alleged that they killed four suspected terrorists in a shootout. Rao Anwar claimed that Naqeebullah had links with the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Daesh).[13][17] However, the claims were contested by Naqeebullah's relatives and human rights activists,[13][16][18] especially the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM, or 'Pashtun Protection Movement'), which launched a campaign to seek justice for him.[7][19][20] An inquiry committee consisting of senior police officers was formed to investigate the killing, which found Naqeebullah to be innocent, and declared that the alleged police encounter staged to kill him and three others was fake.[1][21][22]

Naqeebullah was survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.[23] On 24 January 2019, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court declared Naqeebullah and the three other persons murdered with him as innocent.[24]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference dawn3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "'Rao Anwar announced Naqeebullah's death hours before it happened'". The Express Tribune. July 5, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference dawn5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "JIT holds Anwar responsible, calls killing an act of terror". The News Express Tribune. April 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  5. ^ "Rao Anwar removed as SSP Malir over involvement in alleged extrajudicial killing". DAWN. January 20, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  6. ^ "Who was Muhammad Naqeeb – terrorist or an aspiring model?". SAMAA TV. January 19, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Manzoor Pashteen: The voice of Pashtuns for many in Pakistan". www.aljazeera.com. March 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  8. ^ Hashim, Asad (2018-01-19). "Police killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud angers Pakistanis". Archived from the original on 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  9. ^ "Rao Anwar, other accused indicted in Naqeebullah case". The News International. March 26, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  10. ^ "SC takes suo moto notice of Naqeebullah's killing in 'encounter'". Business Recorder. January 19, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "Controversial cop booked on terrorism charges in Pakistan". Arab News. January 23, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  12. ^ "Record of three men killed along with Naqeebullah sought as police widen scope of investigation". The News International. January 23, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  13. ^ a b c Ali, Imtiaz (2018-01-18). "Anger on social media after Waziristan man killed in Karachi 'encounter'". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  14. ^ "Tank: Funeral prayers of Naqeeb Mehsud offered". Dunya News. January 19, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  15. ^ "Naqeebullah laid to rest in NWA". DAWN. January 20, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Protests continue against Naqeebullah Mehsud's murder in Karachi". Daily Times. January 19, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  17. ^ Ali, Imtiaz (2018-01-13). "4 militants linked with high-profile terror cases killed in Karachi police 'encounter'". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  18. ^ Mushtaq, Kashif (2018-01-18). "IGP forms committee to probe killing of Waziristan man in Karachi 'police shootout'". Archived from the original on 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference the nation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "3rd day of Pashtun sit-in: Protesters refuse to budge till acceptance of demands". Pakistan Today. 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference paktoday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Rao Anwar faces another inquiry over 'fake encounter'". The News International. February 10, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference arynews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Tanoli, Ishaq (2019-01-24). "ATC declares Naqeebullah Mehsud and others innocent, quashes cases against them". Retrieved 2019-01-24.