ISLAMABAD: Prominent rights activist Jibran Nasir, who represents the family of deceased Karachi entrepreneur Mir Raza Ali, said on Saturday that he was murdered after being tortured, hours after police issued his second postmortem report.
Ali, the 25-year-old owner of Karachi-based dessert brand Wafflix, went missing on July 28. His body was found a day later from bushes in the city’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. Ali’s family claimed police initially indicated that Ali had taken his own life after suffering financial difficulties. They, however, alleged that he had been abducted, tortured and murdered.
The investigation came under scrutiny on Aug. 3 after Karachi Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed issued a memorandum identifying 14 deficiencies in the initial post-mortem examination. Syed said the examination had not included X-rays, DNA sampling or gunshot-residue swabs. She also said the skull and neck had not been examined internally, and that basic forensic measurements of the firearm injuries were missing.
The family subsequently petitioned a judicial magistrate for a second examination, which was approved. However, the procedure was delayed on Friday after Sindh health authorities sought to change the composition of the medical board, adding members from outside the Karachi division, the family and its lawyer said.
Ali’s family objected to the revised panel constituted by the Sindh government and asked that the postmortem examination be conducted under the board originally designated by the Karachi police surgeon. Health authorities later withdrew the change and re-notified the original eight-member board.
Police conducted Ali’s second postmortem on Saturday morning. A copy of the report seen by Arab News showed that a firearm entry wound was found on Ali’s upper back upon inspection. The report also stated that his skull cap was bruised, and similar bruises were also observed over his right nasal bone, whose tip was found to be fractured on the side.
“It has been proven 110 percent that he was shot in the back; it exited from the back and fractured the sixth rib which also affected the fifth rib,” Nasir told reporters on Saturday evening about the postmortem report.
“This is murder after the torture of a young, jolly, ambitious and educated youngster of Karachi,” he said. “We demand the entire investigation team be changed, including all senior officers.”
Nasir accused police of distorting the facts relating to the case and not investigating it with transparency. Police have so far not responded to his allegations.
Ali’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, vowed the family would not back down until his son’s killers were held accountable.
“If the chief minister of Sindh appoints transparent officers [we will accept it] but we do not recognize this team,” he told reporters. “If they had to conduct it [investigation] transparently, they would have told us [about the murder] by now.”
POSTMORTEM CONTROVERSY
The second postmortem was carried out on Saturday morning by a panel led by Prof. Dr. Naseem Ahmed and which included police surgeon Syed. They exhumed Ali’s remains at the Rehmania Masjid Graveyard in the presence of Judicial Magistrate Hameedullah and Ali’s parents.
The medical board has reserved its final opinion on the cause of death pending chemical and toxicology analyzes. Those tests are expected to form part of the assessment of whether the fatal gunshot wound was self-inflicted or resulted from homicide.
Police have also collected a DNA sample of the body to confirm that it was Ali’s corpse which was exhumed for the second postmortem, Syed said.
Ali’s murder sparked anger among Karachi’s youth and triggered protests led by influencers based in the city. Protest demonstrations, mostly led by the city’s youth, were held in several parts of the city earlier this month.
Protesters have demanded an end to the deteriorating law and order situation in the metropolis.
