The Sindh government has formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the murder of young Karachi businessman Mir Raza Ali, acting on the recommendations of a judicial commission that criticised the police investigation.
The JIT will be headed by Deputy Inspector General Irfan Ali Baloch and will include officers of grade 18 or above from the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, Sindh Rangers and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency.
Mir Raza, a 25-year-old business graduate who ran a waffle business, left his PECHS home in the early hours of 28 July. His family reported him missing the same day, and his body was found the following morning within the limits of the Gulistan-e-Johar police station.
The single-member judicial commission, headed by Sindh High Court judge Justice Omar Sial, described the police investigation as an “epic failure” and said officers had breached procedures needed to withstand judicial scrutiny and support a successful prosecution.
The provincial Home Department has written to the Sindh Inspector General of Police, forwarding the commission’s observations and a cabinet subcommittee’s recommendations for action against officers named in the report.
In a separate letter to the health secretary, the department recommended removing medico-legal officer Dr Osama Sheikh, who conducted the initial post-mortem examination, from his position and requiring him to complete two years of training.
The government has also decided to set up a further inquiry committee led by a senior Federal Investigation Agency officer, while a one-member committee under Counter-Terrorism Department chief Zulfiqar Ali Larik will review the roles of officers named in the report, including an inspector’s alleged role in the burning of the crime scene. Both committees will report to the Sindh police chief.
