Karachi court orders exhumation of Mir Raza Ali's body after flaws found in post-mortem

Judicial magistrate orders new autopsy after police surgeon identified multiple deficiencies in the original report

KARACHI:

A judicial magistrate in Karachi on Thursday ordered the exhumation of waffle chain owner Mir Raza Ali's body and directed the formation of a medico-legal board to conduct a fresh post-mortem examination, a day after the Karachi police surgeon identified multiple deficiencies in the original autopsy and questioned its findings.

The 25-year-old was allegedly kidnapped from PECHS and was found dead in bushes near a wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Jauhar last week. Police suspect he was tortured before being shot dead.

The application came before the Judicial Magistrate (East), where the family's counsel, Jibran Nasir, argued that the court had the authority to order exhumation without first issuing notice to the investigating officer.

Responding to the court's query, counsel said Ali had been buried at the PECHS Graveyard near Rehmania Masjid on Tariq Road, within the jurisdiction of Ferozabad Police Station. The prosecution did not object to the application, after which the court reserved its verdict before issuing the order later in the day.

Allowing the application under Section 176(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court directed the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medico-legal board comprising senior forensic experts and pathologists.

The board will conduct a fresh and comprehensive medico-legal examination, including a post-mortem, X-rays, DNA testing, and forensic and chemical analyses to determine the actual cause of death, it added.

The court also directed the SHO of Ferozabad Police Station and the investigating officer to make the necessary arrangements for the exhumation and notify the court of the date and time of the proceedings.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Nasir said the police surgeon had identified flaws in the original post-mortem examination and argued that it was the police's responsibility to seek the exhumation order.

"The parents themselves had to file the application," he said, adding that the exhumation was necessary "to determine the cause of death or reach the real killers".

He alleged that the police were trying to "wrap up the case", even as the police surgeon's office had questioned the report prepared by Medico-Legal Officer Dr Usama Sheikh. He also claimed that, despite the registration of the FIR, the investigating officer had yet to record the complainant's statement.

"Rumours are circulating, but no evidence has been collected," he said, adding that state institutions had a responsibility to satisfy the complainant that a proper investigation was being carried out.

Ali's father, Mir Hussain, criticised the direction of the investigation, saying police were focusing on his son's finances rather than the circumstances surrounding his death. "We are talking about a murder," he said. "The investigation is about finances and investments."

Read: Post-mortem report of Karachi waffle chain owner raises ‘more questions than answers’

He also questioned the whereabouts of Dr Usama Sheikh, who conducted the original post-mortem, saying police had yet to record the family's statement. He added that the family received the investigation report only after the case gained media attention.

"It pains us that our son's grave is being exhumed," he said. "The police have still not accepted that this was murder. We want justice."

The order came a day after Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed raised 14 objections to the post-mortem examination conducted on July 29, saying the report contained multiple deficiencies and "raises more questions than answers".

In a letter to the East senior superintendent of police, Dr Syed said the body had not been X-rayed, hand swabs had not been collected for gunshot residue analysis, and no chemical examination had been conducted on gunpowder marks around the bullet entry wound.

She added that the skull and neck had not been internally examined, the firearm injuries had neither been scientifically measured nor photographed, and the report failed to document the bullet's trajectory or provide a scientific description of the entry and exit wounds.

Dr Syed also noted that the body's state of decomposition had not been adequately documented and that no DNA sample had been collected despite the deceased not having been positively identified. She said an explanation had been sought from the medico-legal officer. Police have yet to determine whether the case is one of murder or suicide.