KARACHI(National Times)-The judicial commission formed to investigate the murder of Mir Raza Ali issued notices to the parties for Friday, the commission\u2019s spokesperson said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi-based businessman, was found dead with a gunshot wound in Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he was reported missing. The provincial government decided on Sunday to form a judicial commission for a review of the probe into the case, despite objections from the victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The head of the commission, Justice Omar Sial, issued notices to the parties for tomorrow (Friday), according to the commission\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notices have been issued to the family of the slain business owner and the focal person of the Sindh government, as well as to the family\u2019s lawyer, Advocate Jibran Nasir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali had gone missing from his home in PECHS, Block-2, on July 28, and his body \u2014 bearing gunshot wounds \u2014 was found in bushes in a hilly area opposite the University of Karachi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar the next day. Ferozabad police registered a case on the complaint of the victim\u2019s father, Mir Husain Ali, under sections 365, 302 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sindh government said on Sunday it would ask the chief justice of the provincial high court to establish a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, soon after the announcement, the family filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) through Advocate Nasir, requesting it to set aside the decision to form the commission and constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, named 19 respondents, including the Sindh government, Sindh Home Department, the provincial inspector general of police, Karachi\u2019s additional inspector general of police, the Federation of Pakistan and the defence ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petitioners requested the court to set aside the Sindh government\u2019s decision to form a judicial commission, including \u201cany subsequent proceedings arising from it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, they sought the court\u2019s directives for the formation of an \u201cindependent, impartial and multi-agency JIT, including members from Sindh police, Rangers, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and military intelligence, with a senior officer of unimpeachable integrity who has had no previous involvement\u201d in the case appointed as its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plea contended that the head must conduct a \u201cfresh and comprehensive investigation into the abduction, torture and murder\u201d of Ali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali, a 25-year-old businessman and a graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, was found dead with a gunshot wound on July 29 in bushes in Karachi\u2019s Gulistan-i-Jauhar a day after he was reported missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While his family was convinced that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, police were initially 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 (FIR) after the exhumation and a second post-mortem 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
The second autopsy was conducted after 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
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 police surgeon Dr Sumaiyya 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
However, Ali\u2019s family rejected the new board, which also resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation on Friday. Meanwhile, Advocate 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 August 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A day later, the Sindh inspector general of police\u2019s (IG) office notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali\u2019s death. Meanwhile, Karachi\u2019s Additional IG Azad Khan transferred the investigation into Ali\u2019s murder to Zaman Town police station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same day, the Sindh government decided to seek a judicial commission for the case\u2019s investigation, only to defer the plan a day later after Ali\u2019s family said they had made no such demand and had faith in the new investigation team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Aug 19, Ali\u2019s parents, Mir Hussain and Mariam Hussain, wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking his \u201cdirect supervision of the murder investigation\u201d into the slain business owner\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also urged the chief minister to order an investigation and departmental inquiry into the previous investigation team and immediately suspend the officers involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, the provincial government acknowledged the letter and announced its decision to form a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, soon after the announcement, the counsel for Ali\u2019s family raised objections and said they would approach the SHC in the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The family\u2019s counsel held that the family was not informed of the commission, its terms of reference were not disclosed and that the police were yet to submit an investigation report before the magistrate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI(National Times)-The judicial commission formed to investigate the murder of Mir Raza Ali issued notices to the parties for Friday, the commission\u2019s spokesperson said on Thursday. Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi-based businessman, was found dead with a gunshot wound in Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he was reported missing. The provincial government decided on Sunday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n