Protesters demand judicial inquiry

Want SSP Rao Anwar suspended until the inquiry’s report is filed

PESHAWAR: Activists, political party workers and people from different walks of life came together on Thursday demanding a judicial inquiry into the brutal killing of a Sought Waziristan native in Karachi.

Police in Karachi had earlier in the week had claimed to have killed 27-year-old Naqeeb Mehsud in an encounter, alleging that he was working for the terror outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. However, the claim has been disputed with relatives and eyewitnesses claiming that he had been picked up by police a week prior to his death.

Activists protested outside the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday and chanted slogans against the Sindh Police for the brutal killing.

They condemned the extra-judicial murder and demanded a judicial inquiry into the case.

The protesters further stated that they stand against custodial torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killing of Mehsud, Professor Hasan Zafar Arif and thousands of innocent people of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata), Balochistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

They expressed their condolence with the bereaved families of Mehsud, Professor Arif and Asma — the four-year-old who was raped and murdered in Mardan last week. They stated that extrajudicial killings have no place in the civilized and democratic countries.

The protesters demanded the formation of a judicial body to investigate the murder and to suspend SSP Rao Anwar until the inquiry reports its findings.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2018.