Rao Anwar speaks with media after a court acquitted him over the killing of Naqeebullah (R) in Karachi on Monday. AFP

An Anti-Terror Court (ATC) convened in Karachi's central prison "acquitted all the accused including Rao Anwar," Salahuddin Panwar, the Mehsud family lawyer, said. In total 18 people, all law enforcement officials, were on trial. Panwar pledged to challenge the verdict in a higher court.

The young man, Naqeebullah, was killed under suspicious circumstances, in what police at the time said was a raid on a militant hideout in the port city of Karachi.

Naqeebullah with his daughters. File

His killing drew nationwide condemnation from human rights activists and thousands from his Mehsud tribe rallied in Islamabad and elsewhere in Pakistan.

Rao Anwar, who at the time was Karachi's police chief, and the others were arrested soon after the raid and went on trial in 2019. A subsequent government probe concluded that Naqeebullah, who hailed from the South Waziristan region, once a Taliban stronghold, had no ties to militants.

Jabran Nasir, an attorney for Naqeebullah's family, said the court in Karachi acquitted Anwar and the others due to lack of evidence after the prosecution failed to prove the charges raised against them. The lawyer said he would consult the family and may file an appeal.

Naqeebullah's family has claimed that he was arrested weeks prior to his killing and that alleged the raid was staged as a "fake shootout.”

Anwar, credited with arresting scores of militants while he was police chief, was suspended following the raid and barred from leaving Pakistan. Later on, during the trial, he retired from service.

Rao Anwar speaks with media after a court acquitted him over the killing of Naqeebullah on Monday. AFP

After Monday's ruling, Anwar said "justice has been done" and announced he would demand he be reinstated because of a wrongful suspension.

Agencies