Commission orders relief for Mir Raza case witness

KARACHI: The judicial commission investigating the murder of young entrepreneur Mir Raza Ali has directed the investigating officer to help restore the employment and accommodation of a ride-hailing driver who provided important information in the case.

In its written order issued on Friday, the commission expressed concern over the treatment of driver Ahsanullah, who it said had cooperated with Raza’s family and investigators during efforts to trace the missing entrepreneur.

Justice Omar Sial directed Investigation Officer DSP Siraj Lashari to approach the driver’s employer and landlord and request that his employment contract and tenancy be restored. The IO was also asked to clarify that Ahsanullah was not a suspect but a key witness in the case.

The driver had told the commission during an earlier hearing that his employer had taken back the vehicle he used for work and that he had subsequently been evicted from his residence. With nowhere else to go, he said he had been staying at Ferozabad police station.

The commission noted that Ahsanullah had assisted Raza’s family in locating him and had provided investigators with details of the ride, a location map and other relevant information.

It further directed the IO to assure the driver’s employer and landlord that they would not face coercive action in connection with the murder investigation.

Expressing its displeasure over the situation, the commission observed that instead of being recognised for assisting the family, Ahsanullah was effectively being punished by the system for his cooperation.

Raza, a young entrepreneur, was reported missing in Karachi on July 28. His body was recovered the following day from bushes near a wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. A second post-mortem was later conducted after questions arose over the initial examination, with the subsequent findings indicating that he had been tortured and murdered.

Raza’s family had repeatedly called for the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT), arguing that the initial investigation was inadequate. The Sindh High Court, however, declined the request, after which the Sindh government constituted the judicial commission to examine the handling of the case.

During its proceedings, the commission has questioned several individuals connected with the investigation, including Raza’s business partners, police officials and the medico-legal officer who conducted the initial post-mortem.

The commission also recorded statements from business partners Ahmed and Abdullah and SDPO Arshad Afridi. Ahmed was directed to provide documents relating to a Sindh Revenue Board notice and payments made to a food delivery company that surfaced during the proceedings.

Several other witnesses and police officials have been summoned for the next hearing, including Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station SHO Kamran Qureshi and court moharrir Zeeshan.

The commission is scheduled to resume proceedings on September 7 at 11am.

Meanwhile, investigators have maintained that the case is being treated as murder and that suicide has been ruled out on the basis of the second post-mortem findings. DSP Siraj Lashari previously told the Sindh High Court that the investigation had effectively been restarted from August 13, with digital evidence, including CCTV footage, being examined.

Investigators have also recovered a bullet casing but have not yet located the weapon allegedly used in the crime. Final forensic and post-mortem reports are still awaited.