Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday assured Naqeebullah Mehsud’s father of the army’s support in procuring justice for his son, who was killed in a staged encounter in Karachi earlier this year.

The assurance was made during the army chief’s visit to South Waziristan, where he also inaugurated two mega projects including an Agriculture Park at Wana and a market in Makeen.

Commander Peshawar Corps and IGFC KP South were present during the army chief’s visit to South Waziristan.

Staged encounter and struggle for justice

Naqeebullah Mehsud — whose name was given as Naseemullah on his national identity card — was a shop owner fond of modelling, relatives of the deceased had told Dawn.

Hailing from South Waziristan, he was among four suspects killed in an 'encounter' with a police team headed by Anwar in the Usman Khaskheli Goth on the outskirts of the metropolis in January 2018.

Anwar had alleged that Naqeebullah was a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant, but a later statement reportedly issued by a spokesperson for TTP's South Waziristan chapter had termed the claim "baseless", clarifying that the deceased had no links with the banned militant outfit.

Naqeebullah's family had also disputed Anwar's claim, saying that the 27-year-old had no links with any militant organisation.

In January, an inquiry team of senior police officers probing the alleged extrajudicial killing of Mehsud had found that the Waziristan native was killed in a fake encounter which was staged by then-SSP Malir Anwar on January 13.

The high-level inquiry committee had also concluded in its initial report submitted to the Sindh police that the deceased man had no militant tendencies.

Since then, Naqeebullah's father has been the voice behind protests calling for the arrest of former SSP Rao Anwar and the other officials involved in his son's killing.

As the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the case, Anwar and an number of his accomplices remained absconding from court until March 21, when the former SSP unexpectedly appeared in court.

The court immediately ordered Anwar's arrest, after which a Karachi anti-terrorism court awarded the Sindh police the former SSP's 30-day physical remand.