Naqeebullah Mehsud case: all 25 accused now acquitted as ATC frees 7 more police

Updated Sunday 27 September 2026. An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Saturday 26 September acquitted the last seven policemen tried for the January 2018 killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, citing a lack of evidence. With this verdict, all 25 people accused in the case have now been acquitted: former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and 17 others in January 2023, and these seven on Saturday.

Who was acquitted on Saturday

The seven are former SHO Amanullah Marwat, Shoaib (named in the case as "Shoaib Shooter"), Gada Hussain, Sadaqat Hussain, Riaz Ahmed, Raja Shamim and Mohsin Abbas.

According to The Nation, all seven had been absconders for years and surrendered after the court's January 2023 verdict, which is why their trial ran separately and finished more than three years later.

Why the court let them go

Defence lawyer Farzana Mateen argued that the prosecution examined 41 witnesses and none of them said these seven had abducted Naqeebullah or that the encounter was staged, Arab News reported. Two witnesses the prosecution relied on, Hazrat Ali and Muhammad Qasim, who were said to be present when Naqeebullah was picked up, neither identified nor implicated the seven. The prosecution produced no new witnesses in this round.

The case in five dates

• 13 January 2018: Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, a shopkeeper and aspiring model from South Waziristan living in Karachi, is killed with three others in what Malir police call an encounter with militants.
• January 2018: A police inquiry finds the encounter was staged and finds no evidence of militant links. The killing sets off nationwide protests led by Pashtun youth, the start of what became the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.
• 2018 to 2022: Rao Anwar is arrested, later released on bail, and tried along with the other accused before an anti-terrorism court in Karachi.
• January 2023: The ATC acquits Rao Anwar and 17 others, ruling the prosecution failed to prove the charges.
• 26 September 2026: The remaining seven are acquitted.

What happens now

The Mehsud family's appeal against the 2023 acquittal of Rao Anwar and the others is still pending before the Sindh High Court, Arab News reports, and that appeal is now the only live part of the case. The family, represented earlier by lawyer Jibran Nasir, had not said by Saturday night whether it will challenge the new acquittals as well. Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, an appeal against an ATC acquittal goes to the High Court, so the family or the state could file one.

Why it matters

The Naqeebullah case became the best-known test of whether police officers in Pakistan can be convicted for a staged encounter. An official inquiry said this one was fake, yet eight years later no one stands convicted. For families in Karachi and elsewhere who have lost relatives in disputed encounters, the Sindh High Court appeal is now the one route left in this case.

We will update this page when the High Court fixes the appeal for hearing or the family files a new one. For other news from the city, see our page on Section 144 in Karachi until 30 September.