New team formed to re-examine Raza's 'murder'

KARACHI:

Sindh police have disbanded the special investigation team previously probing the death of Mir Raza Ali and constituted a new team headed by DIG Crime and Investigation Amir Farooqi, which will re-examine the case in light of fresh developments following the exhumation and new post-mortem findings.

The new team will hold its first meeting today and is expected to begin a detailed review of the case from multiple angles.

IG Police Javed Alam Odho said the earlier team, headed by SSP Special Investigation Unit Samiullah Soomro, had been replaced after an initial medical report emerged following Mir Raza's exhumation.

The new team comprises SSP CTD Operations Irfan Bahadur, SSP Investigation District Central Anum Tajammal and two other officers. According to the IG, the team will conduct a fresh examination of the case, taking into account all available evidence and the findings of the second post-mortem.

Odho said the investigation would be taken to its logical conclusion. The development comes after Mir Raza's father had expressed serious reservations about the police team that has now been disbanded.

According to police sources, investigators will identify, collect and preserve any new or additional evidence before conducting a detailed assessment of physical, technical, circumstantial and forensic material. The team has been directed to take all possible measures to resolve the case and submit its report to the relevant court within the prescribed period, while daily progress reports will also be submitted.

A key focus of the fresh investigation will be the two post-mortem examinations. The team is expected to record statements from members of the medical board that conducted the first post-mortem and may formally interview the doctors and experts involved. A detailed questionnaire may also be given to the medical board.

Sources said investigators would seek to establish the evidentiary basis for the opinion recorded in the first post-mortem regarding the direction of the bullet. The team will also examine how forensic evidence from the first examination was documented, preserved and secured.

The investigators will review the differing observations regarding the bullet's trajectory in the two post-mortem examinations and examine the evidence and methodology underlying the earlier findings.