Everyone is busy asking about the whereabouts of former Malir SSP Rao Anwar.
Rao Anwar used to be reported as a brave and efficient police officer. He arrested the alleged killers of Safoora bus massacres where more than 20 Ismaili Shias were killed. He has been brave enough to kill Taliban militants and dare them openly on the media. He has survived several attempts on his life. After the unfortunate death of Naqibullah Mehsud, the SSP, who is on the run, is being dubbed as the mastermind of fake encounters and main culprit of extrajudicial killings.
Until the killing of Naqibullah Mehsud, the system – the courts, the police administration, the media and the civil society – had been tolerating such deaths. Every extrajudicial killing is a crime, and the state must investigate all such cases. The reign of extrajudicial killings under the Shahbaz Sharif government remains unquestioned. As no structured data is available, some media report suggests that from 2008 till present, the good governance guru has killed more than 5,000 people in police encounters. Among them include the 14 deceased who were killed in Model Town in 2016.
Shahbaz Sharif’s love for encounters can be traced in newspapers archives of 1997-1999 when his government groomed SP Umer Virk and Inspector Abid Boxer to kill people on their bosses’ orders. In 2002, stage and film actress Nargis was beaten black and blue by then dismissed inspector Abid Boxer. Dawn (2002) reported “the former inspector, known for killing many alleged criminals in several fake police encounters during Shahbaz Sharif’s reign in Punjab, reportedly tortured Nargis for several hours. He allegedly cut her hair with a knife and shaved off her eyebrows. ‘I have 39 wounds on my body,’ Nargis told Dawn while showing her bruised arm”. Nargis said Abid had been threatening her and her family for the last four years for her refusal to develop relations with him.
In 2007, this notorious boxer disappeared from the scene. He was reported to be seen in Kenya until the news flashed on TV screens on February 7, 2017, that he was arrested by the Dubai police for his alleged role in the murder of a cable operator in Samanabad last year and the family pursued his arrest through Interpol. His safe return to Pakistan and an efficient investigation can put Shahbaz Sharif in troubles. The Supreme Court must take suo motu of the arrest of Abid Boxer case and ensure a fair hearing of his past crimes and how the inspector was forced into the encounter den, and how many people were killed to settle the score.
Encounter stories have been appearing in Punjab newspapers. Every story has just a different location and dates and characters. The plot remained unchanged: the gunmen fled and place chased them. Gunmen took cover in a roadside field. Gunplay ensued. When the smokes cleared, one of the gunmen was found injured and others fled. They fled in the dead of the night. All encounters happen on dark nights. The bullet hitting the gunman is always fired by their accomplices. Policemen taking part in the encounter never happen to be good shooters. Not a single bullet by them has hit the target.
Over the years, these police officers and political figures have been acting underworld 'kings’.
Their rule must come to an end now.
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