Pak SSP accused in extra-judicial killings barred from travelling abroad

A former Pakistani police official accused of extra-judicial killings was stopped from travelling abroad on Tuesday.

According to The Express Tribune, Former Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) of Malir Cantt Rao Anwar was offloaded at Benazir International Airport, Rawalpindi, from a Dubai bound international flight.

Rao Anwar and other officers are in the dock for killing at least four men during what they claimed was a raid on a suspected Taliban hideout in Karachi.

Relatives of one of the dead men, who was identified as Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, from South Waziristan tribal district, rejected claims of him having militant links and maintained that he was an aspiring model who had been a resident of Karachi since 2008. They added that Naqeebullah was looking for a job and had been running a shop in the city.

His killing evoked a national outcry and triggered protest rallies in several cities.

Yesterday, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto called for an end to extra-judicial killings in Pakistan.

Answering a question asked by media, Bilawal said he is against police encounters taking place anywhere in Pakistan. Such practices must end, he added.