Mir Raza's final hours: A trail of calls, Rs30m plea

KARACHI:

A flurry of late-night phone calls, a WhatsApp message seeking Rs30 million, the sudden disappearance of social media accounts and a trail of CCTV footage that eventually runs cold - the final five hours and 14 minutes of Mir Raza Ali's life are marked by a series of unexplained developments.

A forensic examination of his mobile phone has pieced together a timeline of his movements and communications in the hours before he vanished on July 28, offering a minute-by-minute account of his final known activities. The sequence began late on July 27, with a series of calls between Mir Raza and his friends.

At 11:24pm, his friend Raziq called him for 30 seconds. Six minutes later, Mir Raza called Ahmed Bhardeh. The two spoke again at 11:39pm, a minute after Raziq had called Mir Raza for the second time. Another call from Raziq followed at 11:43pm, but it lasted just two seconds.

At 11:49pm, Mir Raza made a much longer call to his friend Sarim bin Tahir, speaking for 168 seconds. Three minutes later, he sent Sarim a WhatsApp message asking for Rs30 million, adding that something was going to happen in the morning that he was not prepared for.

At around 1:30am, Mir Raza and Raziq had a meal at Ghaffar Kabab House, before the trail of calls resumed. At 2:13am, Mir Raza called Ali Jimani, who returned the call three minutes later. Their conversations lasted 42 and 75 seconds, respectively.

At 2:23am, Mir received a call from his business partner, Abdullah Bhardeh. They spoke for 201 seconds.

Then, around 3am, another development emerged: Mir Raza's social media accounts began to be deactivated.

His fiancée, Salwa Khan, noticed the disappearing accounts and tried to reach him through WhatsApp calls and messages. She received no response until 3:58am, according to the timeline.

At 3:57am, Bykea driver Ehsanullah received a ride request from Mir's number. The ride was booked at 4am. Until 4:02am, Mir continued exchanging WhatsApp messages with Ahmed Bhardeh, even as he remained unresponsive to his fiancée. At 4:07am, the Bykea ride reached Cheese Valley in PECHS.

Two minutes later, at 4:09am, Salwa informed Mir Raza's friend Haitham that all his social media accounts had been deleted. Around the same time, his WhatsApp account was also deleted, adding another unexplained turn to the sequence of events.

At 4:11am, CCTV footage showed Mir Raza sitting in the front seat of a vehicle.

At 4:28am, CCTV footage captured Mir Raza getting out of a vehicle outside United Charter School in Gulistan-e-Jauhar's Block 3. He was subsequently seen walking along Qila-e-Street towards University Road.

The trail continued for another 10 minutes.

At 4:38:27am on July 28, Mir Raza was last seen on CCTV footage from a rent-a-car office on Hill View Road. After that, the available footage offered no further sighting of him.

His body was recovered on July 29, at a location some distance from where he was last seen.