Judicial commission summons SHO in Mir Raza Ali murder case

The judicial commission probing the Mir Raza Ali murder case on Friday summoned Gulistan-e-Jauhar Station House Officer (SHO) Kamran Qureshi and head clerk Zeeshan to appear before it on September 7.

The commission formed by the Sindh High Court chief justice issued the summons while recording the statements of Ahmed Bhurday, Bhurday's brother Abdullah, driver Ehsanullah and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Arshad Afridi during Thursday’s proceedings.

According to the written order issued by the commission on Friday, Ehsanullah told the judge that the company had taken back the vehicle provided to him, while the landlord of the house where he had been residing had also evicted him. He said he was now staying at the Ferozabad police station.

Read: Judicial commission questions Mir Raza Ali's business partner over irregularities

The commission directed the investigating officer, DSP Siraj Lashari, to contact the company management and the landlord and address their concerns. It further directed him to assure them that no coercive action would be taken against them in connection with the case.

The commission observed that Ehsanullah was not a suspect in the case and had fully cooperated with Ali’s family during their search for him. He had provided details of his rides and submitted a location map and other ride-related information to the commission.

It was remarked that instead of being rewarded for assisting the family, Ehsanullah appeared to be treated like a suspect and was seemingly facing punishment for helping them.

Read More: Mir Raza case: Judicial commission directs IO to seek re-employment, housing for cab driver

During the proceedings, Bhurday also assured the commission that he would submit a copy of a notice issued by the Sindh Revenue Board, along with receipts for payments received through an online delivery application.

Due to a shortage of time, the commission directed Haisam, Raziq and SHO Adil Afzal to appear at the next hearing. It also summoned SHO Qureshi and court clerk Zeeshan. The commission would resume proceedings on September 7 at 11am.

Case developments

A judicial commission was formed at the request of the Sindh government to probe the death of Ali, who was allegedly kidnapped from PECHS before his body was found in bushes near a wedding hall in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Johar on July 29. The case had initially been surrounded by uncertainty over whether he had been murdered or had died by suicide. The first post-mortem findings contained discrepancies and omissions, leading to a second post-mortem that confirmed his murder. Consequently, considering the probe "botched", the family filed a petition in the SHC seeking the formation of JIT.

During earlier hearings regarding the formation of JIT, the investigating officer probing the death of Ali told the SHC that investigators were treating the case as murder and had ruled out suicide based on the post-mortem findings. DSP Siraj Lashari said the investigation had restarted “from zero” on August 13 and was being conducted using digital evidence, including CCTV footage. Investigators had recovered a bullet casing but had yet to find the weapon, while final post-mortem and forensic reports were still awaited.

Separately, the judicial commission convened its second hearing on Monday, September 1, wherein it grilled Medico-Legal Officer (MLO) Dr Usama Sheikh over discrepancies in the first post-mortem report filed by him. The commission also recorded the statements of the victim's family and Edhi volunteers who shifted his body during the hearing. After the conclusion of the second hearing, Nasir said the first account of the MLO proved that he was correct about the "botched probe" and, since the commission is not tasked with the probe and can only oversee it, he reiterated that a JIT was crucial for a transparent investigation into the case.

In the latest hearing convened by the commission on Thursday, the commission noted that Ali's business partner Ahmed Bhurdey gave out unnecessary details that suggested his involvement in the murder rather than absolving him of the crime. It suggested that Bhurdey was worried about Ali's financial backlog more than he cared about what happened to his childhood friend. The commission also grilled the SDPO Arshad Afridi for suggesting that Ali committed suicide after showing the CCTV footage to the family.