DHA mystery: FIR registered over journalist’s murder

Police haul up phone records, post-mortem report sealed.

KARACHI: The police have registered a case for the murder of Dawn’s senior assistant editor, Murtaza Razvi, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances on Thursday.

The FIR, No. 159/12, was registered for first-degree murder under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of his wife.

Darakhshan DSP Sheraz Asghar Sheikh told The Express Tribune that they are still looking into whether more than one killer was involved. “Whoever it was, they were really sharp because they didn’t leave any evidence,” he said. “We’ve applied section 302 for now but as the investigation progresses, and things come to the fore, we’ll make amendments to the FIR.”

Additional IG Akhtar Hussain Gorchani has put together a team: DIG Commandant Shaukat Ali Shah, SSP Nasir Aftab, SP Tariq Dharejo, SP Dr Farrukh Ali, DSP Sheraz Asghar Sheikh and SHO Pir Nasir.

Saddar division SP Dr Farrukh Ali told The Express Tribune that they were looking for his personal effects. “The phone records are very important,” he said. “We lifted fingerprints but perhaps they will be useless because the crime scene was not preserved. A lot of people trampled on it beforehand.”

Razvi was found dead in an art studio owned by Shahid Rassam, a close friend. The studio is located in Khadda Market in Defence Housing Authority. According to police sources, two suspects were detained but no police official would confirm it. They have generally been tight-lipped about the case.

“This is a routine exercise – we are questioning family and servants,” said SP Ali. “But it isn’t such a blind case that we won’t be able to solve it quickly.” The Jinnah hospital medico-legal officer, Dr Jagdesh Kumar, said that the postmortem report has been reserved and thus he refused to comment on it. Razvi’s funeral was held at Masjid Yasrib and he was buried at Defence graveyard.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2012.