The death of Naqeebullah Mehsud was an extrajudicial killing, the Additional Inspector General of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, told his grieving friends, family and tribesmen gathered on the outskirts of Karachi.
Abbasi, who headed a three-member team investigating Naqeebullah's killing in an 'exchange of fire', assured his kin on Tuesday that Naqeebullah had never been involved in terrorism-related activities as alleged earlier, but had been innocent and was in fact killed in a 'fake encounter'.
"This was a fake encounter in which an innocent man was killed," Abbasi said. "Whoever was involved will be brought to justice." "No one will be allowed to kill extra-judicially." he added.
Members of a Mehsud jirga were also present in the meeting between the investigation team and the deceased's family.
Senior police official Rao Anwar is among the officials who are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the fake encounter. He was removed from his post as the senior superintendent of police Malir by Sindh's Inspector General, A.D. Khowaja, soon after the inquiry team had submitted an initial report.
Anwar appeared before the team on Friday, but later boycotted the police probe, alleging that two members of the police inquiry team held "personal biases" against him. He had claimed that instead of asking him about the incident, the members of police inquiry team “were bent upon implicating him in the case”.
