Karachi police on Thursday said they had solved the mystery surrounding a charred body found inside a burnt car in Surjani Town, arresting businessman Zeeshan Naz and an alleged accomplice for allegedly staging his own death after murdering an innocent man to escape creditors.

West SSP Tariq Ilahi Mastoi said the suspect was indebted to citizens for more than Rs550 million and orchestrated the elaborate plot to avoid arrest and repayment.

According to police, investigators initially believed the burnt body recovered from a car in Shah Beg Goth on July 27 belonged to Naz. However, suspicions arose after his family refused to formally identify the body, confirming only that personal belongings recovered from the vehicle belonged to him.

Using biometric data and other forensic techniques, police later identified the deceased as Qurban Hussain, a resident of Muzaffargarh who had been living in North Karachi and worked as a sanitation worker.

Police said Hussain’s wife, Sakina Bibi, subsequently confirmed the identity of the body.

Investigators allege that Naz murdered Hussain before setting both the body and the vehicle on fire in an attempt to make authorities believe he had died in the incident.

Police said Naz had allegedly left his mobile phone, wallet, ATM cards and other personal belongings inside the vehicle to reinforce the false impression of his death. Investigators had also recovered a video related to the staged incident during the probe.

Following an extensive investigation, police arrested Naz along with one of his alleged accomplices. A murder case has been registered over the killing of Qurban Hussain, while further investigations are underway to determine the roles of all those involved.

Authorities said additional legal action would be taken as the investigation progresses.