KARACHI(National Times)- Investigators probing the Mir Raza Ali murder case are questioning as many as 35 persons who were found to have been in contact with the deceased over the phone.

The information was provided by the newly appointed investigating officer (IO), DSP Siraj Lashari, to a judicial magistrate on Saturday.

Young businessman and IBA graduate Mir Raza had gone missing on July 28 and his bullet-riddled body was found a day later in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

On Saturday, DSP Lashari appeared in court and sought more time to file a progress report as he took over the case just two days ago.

DSP Lashari tells court no one named as accused yet; murder probe still underway

He stated that around 35 suspects were being interrogated as the call data record reflected that they were in contact with the victim.

He submitted that the police have yet to name anyone as accused since the investigation was still underway and more time was needed to conclude it.

He sought more time to complete the investigation as well as to collect forensic and medical reports.

The court granted him time to conclude the investigation and asked him to file a progress report on Aug 24.

Business partner’s bail extended

Also on Saturday, a sessions court extended the interim pre-arrest bail of Mir Raza’s business partner Muhammad Ahmed Bhardey till Aug 24.

An additional district and sessions judge (East) had granted pre-arrest bail to the applicant against a surety of Rs100,000 till Aug 15.

On Saturday, applicant’s counsel Khalid Mumtaz submitted that his client was being harassed by police and he might be arrested despite extending full cooperation with investigators.

He informed the court that the applicant had been summoned to the crime scene rather than to a police station.

Representing the deceased’s family, Advocate Jibran Nasir submitted that the police had merely summoned the applicant, along with around 35 others, for the investigation process.

The judge questioned why the applicant had sought bail when he had not initially been named as an accused in the case.

The court also made it clear that the applicant would have to join the investigation regardless of whether he remained on bail.

The applicant informed the court that he had been appearing at the police station whenever the police called him.

The judge directed him not to leave the city while the investigation was underway and extended his interim bail until Aug 24.