Judicial commission records statements in Mir Raza murder case

The judicial commission formed to investigate the death of Mir Raza has recorded statements from his family members, a nursery employee and Dr Usama, who conducted his first post-mortem examination.

Dr Usama told the commission that there were no burn marks on Mir Raza’s body. He said the body’s colour had changed, but no obvious fracture was found during the examination.

The commission questioned Dr Usama about his professional qualifications and experience. He said he completed his MBBS degree in 2016 and joined government service through the Sindh Public Service Commission in 2019.

He said he joined the Police Surgeon’s Office in 2021. He was subsequently posted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre as a medico-legal officer.

The commission asked whether medico-legal training was part of the MBBS programme and whether doctors received additional training after completing their degree.

Dr Usama said he could not give an exact figure but had conducted more than 100 post-mortem examinations.

The commission remarked that he had apparently been conducting post-mortems before completing the relevant diploma.

Dr Usama responded that he had conducted around 30 to 50 post-mortems after completing the diploma.

He also denied ever describing Mir Raza’s death as a suicide.

Dr Usama said he issued the final report on August 11. He explained that the final report was prepared after the exhumation and in light of chemical examination reports.

The commission questioned why the final report differed from the earlier report. It also pointed out that the handwriting on the two reports appeared different.

The commission asked Dr Usama whether both reports had been prepared by him. It also questioned whether the reports should be subjected to forensic examination.

The commission further asked whether the discrepancies represented an error, negligence or possible facilitation of a murder.

Mir Raza’s mother records statement

Mir Raza’s mother told the commission that she learned about her son’s disappearance from his friend and fiancée.

She said that Mir Raza’s business partner and other friends came to their house at night and searched his room.

After they left, she noticed that a partnership agreement was missing from a drawer in Mir Raza’s room.

She said the family contacted a rental car service on the morning of July 29. The driver, Ehsanullah, told them that he had dropped Mir Raza in Gulistan-e-Johar Block 2.

Mir Raza also had a cloud kitchen in the area.

According to his mother, the family went to the drop-off location themselves. It was located some distance from the cloud kitchen.

The kitchen’s security guard told them that the kitchen remained closed at night. He suggested that Mir Raza might have gone to a nearby guesthouse.

She said the guesthouse door was closed. The family showed Mir Raza’s photograph to the boys inside from outside.

According to her, the boys immediately ran further inside after seeing the photograph.

The commission observed that the boys might have panicked after seeing the photograph.

Mir Raza’s mother, however, said a commotion broke out inside the guesthouse as soon as they showed his picture.

She said eight people then arrived on four motorcycles. They told the family that three people had escaped by jumping over the rear wall.

Father alleges police initially refused FIR

Mir Raza’s father told the commission that the Ferozabad police station initially refused to register an FIR immediately.

He said police told the family that Mir Raza was a young man and might have left home after becoming upset.

The father said the family contacted the emergency helpline 15 but no mobile police unit arrived.

He said the family then checked CCTV footage from cameras installed near their home.

According to him, one camera showed a car passing in front of their house. Footage from a neighbour’s camera also showed Mir Raza walking.

The family approached a departmental store and requested access to its CCTV footage, but the store management refused to show it.

The father said they later viewed the footage with the help of an assistant sub-inspector known to the family.

He claimed the footage showed Mir Raza getting into a vehicle.

The vehicle was allegedly seen travelling at high speed towards Khalid Bin Walid Road while driving on the wrong side of the road.

The family continued trying to trace the vehicle on their own, he said.

The father also alleged that police did not collect CCTV footage in front of the family.

He said Sub-Inspector Investigation Officer Shabbir Laghari arrived at their home at around 7pm.

Nursery employee also appears before commission

A nursery employee also appeared before the judicial commission.

He told the commission that police recorded his statement three days after the incident.

The employee also said he did not hear the sound of a gunshot.