Mir Raza murder case: family records statements as commission grills MLO

KARACHI: The parents and sister of young businessman Mir Raza Ali appeared before a judicial commission investigating his death and recorded their statements on Tuesday, while the commission questioned the medico-legal officer (MLO) over discrepancies between the initial and subsequent post-mortem findings.

The second hearing of the judicial commission, constituted by the Sindh High Court to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mir Raza’s death, was held under the chair of Justice Omar Sial.

During the hearing, Mir Raza’s parents and sister detailed the events surrounding his disappearance on July 28, their efforts to locate him, the discovery of his body and their interactions with police and his business partners.

The commission also recorded statements from two Edhi volunteers who transported the body to hospital, two employees of a nearby nursery where the body was found and MLO Dr Osama Sheikh conducted the initial post-mortem.

Family recounts search for Mir Raza

Mir Raza’s father, Mir Hussain, told the commission that he initially learnt about his son’s disappearance through a call from his friend Haseem at around 4:14am.

According to him, Haseem said that Mir Raza’s social media accounts had been deleted and asked the family to check on him. Haseem had reportedly received the information from Mir Raza’s fiancée, Salma.

The father said that he checked his son’s room and found his belongings there before informing his daughter.

He said Haseem and several others subsequently arrived at the house and the family contacted an organisation dealing with missing persons, which circulated Mir Raza’s photograph on social media.

The family also contacted the emergency police helpline 15 and were advised to approach Ferozabad police station.

Mir Hussain said that police initially refused to register an FIR and instead asked the family to submit an application and photograph.

The family then began searching for Mir Raza and examined CCTV footage from different locations.

According to his statement, footage from Tariq Road showed a white car passing in front of their house, while another camera showed Mir Raza walking near a neighbour’s house. Footage from Cheese Valley showed the door of an Alto car opening before the vehicle drove away.

The family later traced the vehicle towards Khalid Bin Waleed Road and then towards Jheel Park through CCTV footage from a bank, although its registration number could not be clearly identified.

Mir Hussain said that the family reached Ferozabad police station at around 3:15pm and requested SHO Adil Afzal to register the FIR.

He said the SHO initially suggested that Mir Raza might have left home after becoming upset. The FIR was eventually registered at around 4:30pm, he said.

According to Mir Hussain, the SHO assured him that his son would be found alive by midnight and sent a police official, identified as Nauman, with the family to help identify locations from CCTV footage.

The family was subsequently told that Sub-Inspector Shabbir Laghari would investigate the case.

Mother, sister talks about business partners’ involvement

Mir Raza’s mother told the commission that one of his business partners, Ahmed, had visited their home and asked that a Foodpanda payment be transferred to his account.

His sister, Alishba, said that Ahmed had asked her to make the transfer using Mir Raza’s email account, but she refused.

The mother said that she called Haseem at around 1am to ask whether he had found any information about Mir Raza. Haseem told her that he and others were coming to the house.

According to her, Ahmed, Abdullah, Rafi, Waseh and Haseem arrived at around 2am in a white Alto.

They told the family that CCTV footage showed Mir Raza taking a guard’s gun from a restaurant, she said.

The mother told the commission that she initially refused to believe the claim.

Later, Mir Raza’s business partner Abdullah allegedly told the family that Rs22,000 was owed to him by Mir Raza and shared video clips showing Mir Raza parking a vehicle and another clip in which he appeared to take out a gun.

The commission asked the mother whose pistol it was and whether it had been recovered.

She said that the business partners told them the weapon belonged to a security guard and that the matter would have to be reported.

The business partners also claimed that footage from the restaurant was stored on Mir Raza’s mobile phone and that they had obtained the data from his device, she said.

Ahmed subsequently sent a voice message to Mir Raza’s father asking him to hand over the videos to police, according to the mother. The family, meanwhile, continued searching nearby hospitals for Mir Raza.

His sister told the commission that at around 5am Haseem called and asked for the rented vehicle Mir Raza used, saying it had to be returned.

The family initially refused, saying they would deal with the vehicle after Mir Raza returned. The mother alleged that the business partners searched the vehicle and took Monopoly cards found inside it.

Family traces ride-hailing vehicle

The family also contacted Bykea and Uber while searching for Mir Raza.

According to his mother, Bykea officials informed them that Mir Raza had booked an Alto and provided the driver’s name as Ehsanullah and his phone number.

The driver told the family that he had dropped Mir Raza in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 2 and shared the location with them. The family reached the location and found a restaurant kitchen there.

A security guard at the kitchen told them that several guesthouses were located nearby and suggested they check there, the mother said.

The family went to Qila Guest House and showed Mir Raza’s photograph to people there. Some young men allegedly fled after seeing the family, prompting suspicion.

The family said they informed them that they were looking for their missing son and only wanted information about him.

According to the mother, six people on four motorcycles subsequently arrived, identifying themselves as Karachi Water Board personnel and asking why people were running from the restaurant.

The family searched the guesthouse and was shown its rooms and CCTV footage. Mir Raza’s father also caught two young men who had fled and questioned them about his son, but no information about Mir Raza was obtained.

The family also noticed the same white Alto arriving at the location after some time, she said.

Body found near guesthouse

While the family was examining CCTV footage at the guesthouse, a police mobile arrived. The family showed the officers Mir Raza’s photograph and told them they were searching for him.

The officers then informed them that a body had been recovered and asked them to identify it. The family went to Jinnah Hospital, where they identified Mir Raza’s body in an ambulance.

According to the mother, Sub-Inspector Nadeem Mughal had shifted the body from Jauhar to the hospital. She said that the body was found around 200 yards from the guesthouse the family had visited.

The mother told the commission that the condition of the body was so poor that she had great difficulty identifying her son.

The family buried Mir Raza the same night and held his Soyem two days later, she said.

She further told the commission that neither the investigating officer nor other police officials visited the family during the initial period.

After the Soyem, however, the SHO and DSP visited the family and told them that Mir Raza had committed suicide, according to his mother.

She said SHO Adil Afzal also asked for Mir Raza’s smartwatch and its password.

Mir Raza’s sister told the commission that the SHO said he was unable to contact business partner Ahmed and asked the family to tell him to get in touch.

The SHO also expressed suspicion that Ahmed might be involved in the matter, she said.

The mother further alleged that the SHO took possession of the guesthouse’s digital video recorder (DVR).

Edhi volunteers describe condition of body

Edhi drivers Mohsin and Javed, who transported Mir Raza’s body to hospital, also appeared before the commission.

They said that the body was found inside a nursery and that a police mobile was present at the location when they arrived.

The volunteers said that when they straightened the body, they noticed a gunshot wound, while the face was unrecognisable and parts of the body had decomposed.

They said no police official came forward to examine the condition of the body.

The body was subsequently removed from the location by the two volunteers and a nursery employee and transported to hospital.

The commission questioned how the body could have been left at such an isolated location without anyone noticing. The volunteers said they were also surprised that the body had been found there.

Nursery workers say police recorded statements three days later

Nursery employees Yasir and Qaiser told the commission that they had identified the body after it was found. They said police recorded their statements three days after the discovery.

According to them, the area was used as a garbage dumping point and nursery workers would also dispose of waste there.

The workers said they had heard the Edhi volunteers discussing whether acid had been poured on the body.

The commission asked whether they had heard any gunshot. They replied that they had not heard any such sound. Justice Sial said the commission was trying to establish the facts surrounding the case.

Commission questions MLO over post-mortem discrepancies

The most intense questioning during the hearing was directed at MLO Dr Osama Sheikh over the initial post-mortem report.

Dr Sheikh told the commission that he received his MBBS degree in 2016 and later joined the Directorate of Health Services Karachi after passing the relevant examination.

He said he was posted as a police surgeon at Jinnah Hospital in 2021 and was subsequently given the responsibility of an MLO.

He acknowledged that he had not undergone police-surgeon training apart from his medical qualifications but said he later completed a two-year diploma after being assigned the responsibility.

He told the commission that he had conducted more than 100 post-mortems, including around 35 after completing the diploma.

During the hearing, Justice Sial asked Mir Raza’s parents to leave the room while photographs of the body were shown to the MLO.

The judge then criticised Dr Sheikh over the apparent absence of details about injuries in the report.

Justice Sial questioned why the wounds visible in the photographs had not been mentioned in the initial report and repeatedly directed the doctor to answer the questions being put to him.

The commission also questioned the report’s assessment that the body was approximately three days old, asking how that finding could be reconciled with CCTV footage that allegedly showed Mir Raza alive during the intervening period.

Justice Sial also questioned whether the report had adequately documented fractures, burns or other injuries.

Dr Sheikh responded that some of the photographs shown to him were of the crime scene rather than the post-mortem examination.

During the proceedings, a second post-mortem report was also displayed on a screen. The commission noted that the subsequent report contained references to fractures, burns and other findings that were absent from the initial report.

Justice Sial asked Dr Sheikh whether he accepted that the report was a mistake, negligence or a criminal error and who had instructed him to prepare it.

The doctor said he had shared the report with Chief police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed Tariq. He further said that East DIG Dr Farukh Lanjhar had asked him to come to the Chief Minister’s House and discuss the report.

According to Dr Sheikh, officials present there asked him to provide a timeline, to which he responded that he wanted the request in writing.

The questioning became tense when lawyer Jibran Nasir repeatedly intervened, prompting Justice Sial to warn him against interrupting the proceedings.

Background

Mir Raza Ali, a young businessman from Karachi, left home late on July 28 after returning from work but did not return.

He was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on July 29.

Questions were subsequently raised over the initial post-mortem report. Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed Tariq had pointed out several shortcomings, including issues concerning the direction of the bullet’s entry and exit, details of injuries, X-rays and the failure to conduct certain forensic procedures related to firing residue.

Following demands from the family, the court allowed exhumation of the body and ordered the formation of a medical board.

The body was exhumed on August 8, after which an eight-member medical board conducted a second post-mortem and collected various samples.

Following the findings of the second post-mortem, a murder charge was added to the case and a new investigation team was constituted.

Police have said the investigation is continuing on the basis of medical reports, digital evidence and other available material, with the final findings also to be incorporated into the probe.