Police investigating the high-profile murder of Mir Raza have obtained key documents concerning the ownership and rental of a guest house in Gulistan-e-Johar linked to the case.

The documents obtained by Aaj News include a rental agreement submitted during police verification. According to the records, a man identified as Liaquat had rented the property for use as a guest house.

The property, located at C-349, is owned by a woman identified as Tahira Sultana. The agreement between the property owner and the person who rented the house is also available in the police’s TRACS software, according to the documents.

The rental agreement, included in the police verification record, states that the property was rented for use as a guest house. It also lists two witnesses, identified as Jam Ali and Asim.

Police sources said the law requires every tenant to register with the relevant police station. The rental agreement for the property was also recorded as part of the police verification process.

The documents are considered significant to the Mir Raza investigation as authorities are trying to establish who was present at the guest house before and at the time of the incident, their movements and how the property was being used.

The development comes a day after allegations circulated on social media claiming that the Gulistan-e-Johar guest house was owned by Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and that Mir Raza was tortured and killed there.

Sharjeel Memon and his son, Rawal Memon, subsequently approached the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and submitted a written complaint, seeking an independent investigation into what they described as a campaign aimed at damaging their reputation.

Further details about the guest house had previously emerged during the investigation.

Mir Raza’s father had claimed that a child ran out crying when he reached the guest house while searching for his son.

Aaj News later traced the boy, identified as 14-year-old Shahid.

Shahid said he worked at the guest house during the day and had provided police with details about the night of the incident, including the reason he was crying. He said he had never seen Mir Raza at the guest house before the incident.

According to Shahid, when Mir Raza’s father arrived and began shouting, other guest house staff fled through a rear exit.

He said he became frightened after believing that police and media personnel had raided the premises and locked himself inside a room. When he later opened the door, Mir Raza’s father was standing outside, but did not question him.

Shahid said other staff members escaped by climbing a tree and crossing a wall. Police later arrested two of the three staff members who fled, while one remains at large. Shahid said police recorded his statement and subsequently released him.

Investigators said six people were currently in police custody and were being questioned in connection with the case.

The Sindh government had earlier announced plans for a judicial inquiry by a high court judge following public pressure and the sensitivity of the case. It had also announced that a letter would be sent to the chief justice of the Sindh High Court.

The decision to establish a judicial commission was subsequently deferred. Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had spoken to Mir Raza’s mother and assured the family of a transparent investigation.

Lanjar said the family had expressed confidence in the new investigation team and that the team would continue probing the case. The judicial commission decision has therefore been put on hold for now.

Mir Raza Ali went missing from Ferozabad on July 28, and his body was found in Gulistan-e-Johar the following day.

Police initially treated the death as a suspected suicide.

However, Mir Raza’s father, Mir Hussain, and his lawyer, Jibran Nasir, expressed a lack of confidence in the investigation team and maintained that he had been murdered.

Following an exhumation ordered by the court, an eight-member medical board prepared a second postmortem report.

The report confirmed multiple signs of violence on Mir Raza’s body, including fractures to his ribs, teeth and skull. It also found that the bullet had entered from the rear.

Following the findings, police added Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, pertaining to murder, to the case along with the kidnapping charge.

The investigation team is also examining Mir Raza’s mobile phone records. According to the data, he spoke by phone with Ali and his friend Abdullah shortly before his death. Eight messages were also received on his phone but remained unanswered.