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The family of Karachi entrepreneur Mir Raza Ali has demanded that the entire investigation team be replaced, after the preliminary findings of a second post-mortem strengthened their claim that he was murdered rather than having taken his own life.
Speaking to the media after the report’s release, Raza’s family and their lawyer, Jibran Nasir, said the fresh medical evidence supported their long-standing position that Raza was killed.
According to the preliminary findings, multiple wounds and injury marks were found on Raza’s body, including dark bruising, wounds on his foot, a deep injury beneath the jaw and marks on his forehead.
Several ribs were found broken, and the injuries were assessed to have been sustained before death. The report also found that blood had collected in the lungs as a result of the gunshot wound to the back.
Nasir said 17 samples had been sent for the second post-mortem, and that medical evidence showed the bullet had struck Raza and affected his fifth rib. He said the bullet had pierced the heart before exiting the body.
Nasir accused police of harassing Raza’s family instead of investigating his death, and said he had no confidence in the current investigation team.
He called for the entire team to be replaced, noting that a complaint had already been filed against the doctor who conducted the first post-mortem, who has since been suspended.
He also referenced videos related to the case that he said raised serious questions about the police investigation, and said the family’s position should not be ignored.
Nasir called for the Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi to be kept away from the case and transferred out of the city, and said no influential figure should be allowed to interfere in the investigation.
Raza’s mother said the injuries she had observed before the post-mortem had already led her to believe he was murdered, and that the new medical evidence had reinforced that view.
She repeated the family’s demand for a full and impartial investigation under a new team.
Raza’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, speaking on Aaj News programme “Dus,” said he had maintained since July 30 that his son was murdered, but police had been unwilling to accept this.
He said the family would approach the courts if the investigation team was not changed. He said police had repeatedly suggested suicide, while the family had insisted from the first day that those responsible be identified, and said they stood by Nasir’s position.
Raza, 25, had gone missing from Karachi’s Ferozabad area before his body was found in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on July 29.
The initial medical report had listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound, but the family expressed dissatisfaction with those findings, citing marks of torture and burns on the body.
