Summary Police reconstitute team probing Mir Raza Ali’s death as murder charges are added following second postmortem findings that challenge earlier suicide claims.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – The investigation into the death of 25-year-old businessman Mir Raza Ali has been handed over to a new five-member police team, while murder charges have been added to the case registered on his father’s complaint.
Ali went missing on July 28 and his body was found the following day in bushes near Shahi Qila Ground in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar. His family has maintained that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, while the initial investigation also considered suicide.
According to an order issued by the Sindh Inspector General of Police’s office, Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or providing false information to protect an offender) of the Pakistan Penal Code have now been added to the FIR, which was initially registered under Section 365 relating to kidnapping.
The new investigation team will be headed by Sindh Deputy Inspector General (Crime and Investigation) Amir Farooqui. Other members include Alfalah SSP Syed Muhammad Ali Raza, Korangi SP (Investigation) Qais Khan, Central SP (Investigation) Anam Tajjamul and Zaman Town Station Investigation Officer Ch Ghazanfar.
The team has been directed to conduct an impartial investigation from all relevant angles and examine physical, technical, forensic and circumstantial evidence. It has also been instructed to submit a progress report to the court within the stipulated period and provide daily updates.
The development follows a second postmortem conducted after Ali’s body was exhumed. According to the findings, a gunshot had entered through his back and exited from the front, raising questions over the earlier possibility of suicide.
Ali’s family lawyer Jibran Nasir had called for the previous investigation team to be replaced, alleging that Ali was tortured before being killed. He also criticised police handling of the case and said the family had lost confidence in the earlier investigation.
Controversy over first postmortem
Ali, an Institute of Business Administration graduate and owner of food outlet Wafflix, was found dead with a gunshot injury a day after he went missing.
Questions were raised over the initial postmortem after Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed pointed out inconsistencies between the medico-legal report and photographs of the body. She said the reported entry wound, bullet trajectory and exit wound did not appear to correspond.
She also noted that gunshot residue testing, which can be relevant in suspected suicide cases, had not been conducted.
Following the controversy, a judicial magistrate allowed the exhumation of Ali’s body on an application filed by his father, Mir Hussain Ali, and directed the formation of a medical board.
An eight-member medical board was initially formed by the Sindh health department but was later replaced with a five-member board. The original board was subsequently restored following objections from the family, and the exhumation was carried out.
During the second postmortem, samples were collected for identification, chemical analysis and gunshot residue testing. The final cause of death was kept pending until laboratory results were received.
The examination also found multiple injuries to Ali’s head and face, a fractured rib associated with the gunshot wound, injuries to his right flank and feet, and a congealed black substance in his mouth and throat.
