A new police investigation team has launched a fresh probe into the death of Karachi entrepreneur Mir Raza Ali after a second post-mortem examination found multiple injuries and a gunshot wound to his back, contradicting the findings of the initial autopsy.
The team, headed by DIG Crime and Investigation Amir Farooqi, met Ali’s family and their lawyer Jibran Nasir at the DIG Crime office on Monday.
Investigators also obtained records from the previous team to review the case.
Farooqi said the family and Nasir were heard in detail about the circumstances surrounding Ali’s death and that police would keep them informed about the investigation.
Ali, owner of eatery Wafflix, went missing on July 28. His body was found a day later in bushes in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar with a gunshot wound.
Police had initially pursued the possibility that Ali died by suicide, a position rejected by his family, who maintained that he had been kidnapped, tortured and murdered.
A murder charge was added to the FIR [First Information Report] after his body was exhumed and a second post-mortem conducted.
Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho said the new team had been directed to examine all available evidence “with an open mind and open heart”.
He said action had been taken against officers accused of misconduct and negligence and attributed some of the controversy surrounding the case to “miscommunication”.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said the provincial government had deferred a decision on establishing a judicial commission after Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab spoke to Ali’s family, which expressed confidence in the new police team.
Nasir said the family did not currently believe a judicial commission was necessary and had instead demanded a credible police investigation. He also questioned delays in sending DNA and other forensic samples to laboratories.
