KARACHI: A judicial commission formed to probe the circumstances and possible negligence around the Mir Raza Ali murder case issued notices on Friday to the deceased’s business partner, contacts and employees to record their statement as witnesses.
Among those who have been issued notices is Ahsan Anis Shamsi, who the commission was told had a 30 per cent partnership in Ali’s eatery, Wafflix.
The eatery’s manager, Sherry, and accountant Muhammad Umair Khan were also summoned.
The commission also summoned Asad Ali Butt and Usman Buzai and issued an e-notice to Hassan Tanoli, who resides in Australia; the names of all three have come up in connection with Ali’s business.
The witnesses were instructed to appear before the commission on Sept 15 and record their statements. Tanoli would be able to record his statement via Zoom/electronic modes, the commission’s order stated.
It added that the bailiff should coordinate with investigating officer Deputy Superintendent of Police Siraj Lashari for serving notices to the witnesses in case their details were not available with the commission.
The murder case has been mired in conspiracy, with the 25-year-old victim’s family accusing police of trying to bury the facts and law enforcers initially trying to build the case around the possibility of suicide.
It goes back to July, when Ali’s body was found in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar with a gunshot wound, a day after he went missing.
Days after the recovery of Ali’s body, Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed had told Geo News that the post-mortem findings in the case had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.
On August 6, a Karachi court took up an application by Ali’s father, allowed the exhumation of his body, ordered the formation of a medico-legal board for the purpose and directed that a second autopsy of Ali’s body be conducted.
The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with police surgeon 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.
While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed.
But Ali’s family rejected the new board, which also resulted in the deferment of the planned exhumation. Meanwhile, the counsel for Ali’s family, Nasir, accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts.
The Sindh government then restored the original medical board, following which Ali’s body was exhumed on August 8.
A day later, the Sindh inspector general of police’s (IG) office notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali’s death while Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan transferred the investigation into Ali’s murder to Zaman Town police station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was registered under charges of kidnapping.
The order for the probe team’s reconstitution also showed that a murder charge had been added to the first information report.
The same day, the Sindh government decided to seek a judicial commission for the case’s investigation, only to defer the plan a day later after Ali’s family said they had made no such demand and had faith in the new investigation team.
On Aug 19, Ali’s parents, Mir Hussain and Mariam Hussain, wrote to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking his “direct supervision of the murder investigation”. They also urged the chief minister to order an investigation and departmental inquiry into the previous investigation team and immediately suspend the officers involved.
The provincial government acknowledged the letter and announced the decision on Aug 23 to form a judicial commission to determine whether the investigation in the case was being conducted impartially and to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ali’s death.
However, soon after the announcement, the counsel for Ali’s family raised objections and later approached the Sindh High Court (SHC).
The petition was filed on August 24 in objection to the provincial government’s decision to form a judicial commission and sought the formation of an independent and multi-agency JIT “comprising officers who have had no previous involvement in the case” in place of the commission.
On Sept 2, the SHC dismissed a petition filed by Ali’s family, seeking the formation of a JIT to probe his murder, observing that constituting such a body was the “prerogative of the government”.
Meanwhile, the final report of Ali’s second post-mortem confirmed that his death was caused by a gunshot wound to the back.
“Death occurred due to cardiac rupture consequent to perforating firearm injury of the chest,” the report stated, adding that the entry wound was on the posterior thorax (back) and the exit wound on the anterior thorax (front of the chest).
“The findings are inconsistent with suicide as the manner of death,” it confirmed.
