Killing fuels anger over encounters
karachi — Nationwide protests at the police killing of a young ethnic Pashtun man in Karachi have shone a spotlight on allegations of persecution by the authorities against refugees from the country’s conflict-ridden northwest.
The Supreme Court launched an inquiry on January 19 into the death of 27-year-old aspiring fashion model Naqibullah Mehsud. He was one of four men killed six days earlier in what police initially said was a shootout with suspected militants.
The police team that killed Mehsud was under the command of senior superintendent Anwar Ahmed Khan, who has been suspended since January 20 on the recommendation of a police inquiry committee. The committee was set up after Mehsud’s father, Mohammed Khan Mehsud, who denies his son had any militant links, filed a kidnapping and killing complaint against him.
Anwar said he had done nothing wrong and said the investigation into his officers’ actions could allow the Taleban to regain a foothold in ethnic Pashtun parts of the city.
“I had no knowledge of Naqibullah Mehsud. My staff told me that he is a militant with a criminal history,” he said.
Police data from 2011 shows that in the seven years Anwar has been in charge of Karachi’s Malir district at least 450 people have been killed in 200 clashes with police that involved weapons. The data does not give details of the circumstances of the shootings.
Police refer to any armed clash with suspects as an “encounter”. Some human rights activists and families of victims have for years alleged that such incidents are often staged to cover up extrajudicial killings.
Anwar said that armed operations to kill suspects were official police policy in Sindh to combat the threat from militants.
“There was an on-going official policy ... for carrying out encounters to take out criminals and I have broken no law,” he said.
The provincial police chief denied there was such a policy. “I don’t need to respond to irresponsible allegations,” Inspector General of Sindh police Allah Dino Khawaja said in a text message. “He has to appear before the investigation to defend and prove his claims.”
There was an ongoing official policy ... for carrying out encounters to take out criminals and I have broken no law Anwar Ahmed Khan, Accused police officer
The same police force ... eradicated violence from the city. One person’s actions cannot be allowed to malign the system Sohail Anwer Sial, Sindh home minister,
Sindh police said in a statement on January 20 it had launched an inquiry “to ascertain the facts regarding the police encounter in which Naqibullah Mehsud was killed”.
Some campaigners say the story is not unusual. But it is the first to receive nationwide attention — in part because Mehsud, known as Naqib, does not fit the image of the militant from Pakistan’s northern heartlands.
“He had a passion for wearing good clothes ... even in the picture of his body circulating on social media, he is seen wearing good clothes,” his cousin Noor Rehman said, while holding back tears.
Another senior police officer said no evidence linking Naqib to militancy had been found.
“His particulars were checked in
no evidence linking naqib to militancy has been found. His particulars were checked and nothing came up A police officer, who did not wish to be named
He had a passion for wearing good clothes ... even in the picture of his body circulating on social media, he is seen wearing good clothes Noor Rehman, Naqib’s cousin
all the criminal databases of police and nothing came up,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The Supreme Court chief justice on Tuesday summoned Anwar to appear for questioning at its first hearing this weekend.
Earlier that day, he was not allowed to board a flight leaving Pakistan, the Federal Investigation Agency said.
Anwar said he does not plan to appear before the court. He said his children are studying in a Gulf country and he frequently visits them.
Figures posted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on its website show 1,226 people were killed in 784 police encounters nationwide in the past two years.
In the days after Mehsud was killed, thousands of activists and students staged protests in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta.
In Sohrab Goth, the majority Pashtun suburb of Karachi where Naqib’s family live, three families said they had lost relatives in such incidents.
Sohail Anwer Sial, Sindh home minister, said the authorities were taking action over the Mehsud case, but that one or two incidents did not mean the entire police force was corrupt.
“The same police force ... eradicated violence from the city during Karachi operation’, which began in 2013 against militants,” he said.
“One person’s actions cannot be allowed to malign the system,” he maintained. — Reuters