Pakistan's Supreme Court today barred from leaving the country a top police officer who has been put under suspension after a probe committee found him guilty of staging a fake encounter and killing a budding model along with three other suspected Taliban militants.
Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar and another policeman were suspended after an uproar on the social media as friends and relatives of Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, who hailed from North Waziristan, disputed the claims that he was a commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The committee found that Mehsud had a shop in Sohrab Goth area in North Waziristan and was looking for a career in modelling and acting.
Mehsud and three militants were gunned down by a raiding party led by Anwar on January 13 on the outskirts of Karachi with the police claiming that they were all TTP members.
Victims' relatives and friends shared several Facebook pictures, showing him as a dashing man fond of modelling and frequently posting his status.
The Supreme Court took a suo moto cognisance of the killing as a three-member probe committee of Sindh province concluded that Mehsud was innocent.
A court official said that the Supreme Court ordered Anwar's name to be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) after reports emerged that he tried to sneak out of the country this morning but was stopped.
"The court also summoned him on January 27 in the case," said the official.
Meanwhile, Additional Inspector General of the Counter- Terrorism Department (CTD) Sanaullah Abbasi, who headed the probe team, told the victim's grieving tribesmen that Mehsud was innocent.
"This was a fake encounter in which an innocent man was killed. Whoever was involved will be brought to justice," Abbasi said, urging the tribesmen to remain calm as they have been camping in Karachi since last week to press for justice.
Police also registered an FIR against Anwar and seven other police officials after the victim's father filed a formal complaint, police said.
Earlier, Karachi's East District police chief Sultan Khawaja said that police will register an FIR as soon as Mehsud's family lodges a complaint.
Anwar and his police party were suspended by Sindh's Inspector General A D Khowaja. He was also removed from his post as the senior superintendent of police, Malir district of Karachi.
Anwar initially insisted that Mehsud was a terrorist and refused to appear before the probe committee, alleging that its two members were biased against him. But he changed his stance later and told media that the victim could be innocent.
"There is sometimes collateral damage. Innocent people are also killed in aerial bombing," he said.
Anwar, who started his career as a Sub-Inspector of Police in 1980s, slowed moved up.
Known as a fearless and brash police officer, Anwar earned the name of "encounter specialist". He once boasted in a media interview of bumping of more than 150 suspects in encounters and raids.
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