A judicial magistrate in Karachi on Thursday approved the exhumation of the body of young entrepreneur Mir Raza Ali Khan, directing the health secretary to constitute a medical board to carry out the procedure at the earliest.

The order was issued by the Judicial Magistrate (East) while hearing a petition filed by the victim’s father, who sought exhumation to determine the exact cause of death.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the exhumation should be conducted under the supervision of the police surgeon and the medico-legal officer (MLO), adding that the police surgeon had already pointed out flaws in the initial post-mortem report.

The lawyer told the court that no X-ray examination had been conducted, the cause of death had not been properly established, and the post-mortem report had been prepared on the basis of assumptions.

The government prosecutor informed the court that the prosecution had no objection to the exhumation as the matter involved the loss of a human life.

After briefly reserving its verdict, the court approved the request and ordered the formation of a medical board to conduct the exhumation as soon as possible.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Mir Raza’s father criticised the ongoing investigation, stating that investigators were focusing on his son’s financial affairs instead of the circumstances surrounding his death.

“They keep talking about finances and investments, but we are talking about a murder,” he said.

He also questioned the whereabouts of Dr Osama Sheikh, the medico-legal officer who conducted the post-mortem, and expressed anguish over the decision to exhume his son’s body.

“We had already seen our son suffer. It pains us that his grave now has to be reopened,” he said.