KARACHI(National Times)- Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said on Monday the provincial government had deferred the decision on the formation of a judicial commission to probe the Mir Raza Ali murder case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lanjar made the announcement on X, saying that Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had spoken to Ali\u2019s family, who had expressed \u201cconfidence in the new police team\u201d constituted to investigate the case and was of the view that it should conduct the probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTherefore, the decision of establishing a judicial commission has been deferred for the time being,\u201d the home minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Owner of eatery Wafflix, Ali had gone missing on July 28, and his body was found a day later with a gunshot wound in bushes in Karachi\u2019s Gulistan-i-Jauhar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While his family was convinced that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, police had previously been building the case around the possibility that he died by suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A murder charge was eventually added to the first information report after the exhumation and a second postmortem of Ali\u2019s body revealed that he had suffered multiple injuries and was shot in the back, ruling out the possibility of suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Controversy fueled by \u2018miscommunication\u2019
Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Alam Odho said that the investigation into the murder should be conducted in a better manner, expressing hope that the new investigation team would consider all available evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to the media in Sukkur, he said the government, public and police were all concerned about the case and stressed the need to examine it \u201cwith an open mind and open heart\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said action had been taken against officers found guilty of misconduct and negligence during the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IG Odho said the controversy surrounding Ali\u2019s murder had been fuelled by \u201cmiscommunication\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have strictly instructed the entire investigation team to keep communication open and transparent this time, whether with the deceased\u2019s family or the media,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, PPP leader Faryal Talpur recommended a judicial commission to probe the case, saying it should examine all aspects of the incident and bring the facts to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few hours after Talpur\u2019s statement, Lanjar and Wahab had reached Ali\u2019s residence, met with his father, Mir Hussain Ali, and assured the family that they would be provided complete justice. Talking to the media after the meeting, Lanjar had said a decision had been taken to conduct a judicial inquiry, under the supervision of a Sindh High Court judge, into the murder case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Jibran Nasir, the family\u2019s lawyer, posted on X that they had not requested or consented to any judicial commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNor do we believe it\u2019s required at this stage. A new investigation team has been formed, which the family will meet tomorrow. The Sindh government should not try to create hurdles\/confusion in the name of \u2018facilitation,\u2019\u201c he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had earlier also objected to the initially constituted police team probing the case and demanded that it be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to the media on Saturday after the results of the second autopsy came out, he had said that he and the family had \u201cno faith\u201d in the investigation team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Subsequently, the Sindh inspector general of police\u2019s office notified on Sunday the reconstitution of the investigating team probing the case. The order to this effect said the new investigation team was formed in light of Ali\u2019s second postmortem report, which contradicted the one released after his first postmortem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same day, Karachi police chief Azad Khan also suspended Sharea Faisal Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Muhammad Arshad Afridi and Gulistan-i-Jauhar Station House Officer (SHO) Kamran Qureshi with immediate effect for failing to preserve the crime scene and conduct a proper crime-scene investigation after Ali\u2019s body was found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city police chief also ordered the case be transferred to Zaman Town Police Station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was initially registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Controversy over autopsy
The latest developments in the case follow a controversy between the Karachi police surgeon and investigators over alleged loopholes in the medico-legal report regarding Ali\u2019s first post-mortem examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told a private news channel last week that the post-mortem findings of Ali\u2019s body had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The police surgeon, whose assessment was based only on the post-mortem report and photographs as she had not examined the body herself back then, had said the reported entry wound, bullet trajectory and exit wound did not correspond with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The police surgeon noted that entry wounds were typically smaller than exit wounds in firearm cases. She also said that gunshot residue, commonly found on the hands in suspected suicides, was not tested for in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her interview prompted the police authorities to issue a statement, terming such observations as having the potential to adversely affect the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement, however, said that exhumation of the body could be done on the medical board\u2019s recommendation for further clarification by a committee of medico-legal experts with the court\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On August 6, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Ali\u2019s father, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with Dr Syed as the convener. However, in the early hours of August 7, the board was reconstituted through an order issued by the director general of the Sindh health department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Ali\u2019s family rejected the new board, which also resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation on Friday. Meanwhile, Nasir accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sindh government then restored the original medical board, following which Ali\u2019s body was exhumed on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a second postmortem of the body, Dr Syed told Dawn that multiple injuries were found on the head and face. \u201cFractured rib on the back, which is the entry wound of the gunshot [that] exited from the front,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said the body bore \u201cinjuries in the right flank and feet [and] congealed black substance present in the mouth and throat\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI(National Times)- Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said on Monday the provincial government had deferred the decision on the formation of a judicial commission to probe the Mir Raza Ali murder case. Lanjar made the announcement on X, saying that Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had spoken to Ali\u2019s family, who had expressed \u201cconfidence in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n