Sindh forms JIT to probe Mir Raza’s murder

The Sindh government has formed a joint investigation team (JIT) and several committees to implement

The Sindh government has formed a joint investigation team (JIT) and several committees to implement recommendations made by a judicial commission investigating the death of Mir Raza Ali, whose death was initially declared a suspected suicide by police but was later ruled a murder by the commission.

According to an official letter, Deputy Inspector General of Police Irfan Baloch will head the JIT, which will include senior representatives from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Pakistan Rangers Sindh and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

The provincial government has contacted the relevant institutions and requested them to nominate officers of grade 18 or above to join the investigation team.

The case was registered at Ferozabad police station in Karachi under FIR No. 795/2026, with Sections 365, 302 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code included in the complaint.

Raza, a 25-year-old graduate of the Institute of Business Administration who operated a waffle business called Wafflix, went missing from his residence in the PECHS area during the early hours of July 28. His family subsequently registered a missing-person report. His body was found the following morning within the jurisdiction of Gulistan-e-Johar police station.

An initial post-mortem examination was conducted at Jinnah Hospital, and the body was buried on the same day. Police initially treated the death as a suicide, but the family challenged that conclusion, alleging that the body showed signs of torture.

The judicial commission’s report stated that the police surgeon identified inconsistencies in the initial post-mortem report in early August. The body was exhumed on August 8 for further examination, and a final official report issued around August 31 identified the cause of death as a firearm injury entering from the back, ruling out suicide.

The single-member judicial commission, headed by Sindh High Court Judge Justice Omar Sial, submitted its report to the provincial chief minister on October 15. It described the police investigation as a serious failure and raised concerns about the handling of evidence, the initial medical findings and the conduct of officials involved in the case.

The commission concluded that the available medical and physical evidence was inconsistent with suicide. It cited the bullet’s trajectory, the location of the wound, the condition of the body, alleged acid burns and the detection of anaesthesia in the blood as factors supporting its conclusion that Raza had been murdered.

The report also questioned the police’s reliance on unverified text messages, selectively obtained video footage and a preliminary post-mortem report that did not itself establish suicide as the cause of death.

It further highlighted contradictions between the first and second reports prepared by Dr Osama Sheikh. The commission said the possibility of a cover-up during the initial stages of the investigation could not be conclusively ruled out.

The report warned that the handling of the case had severely damaged public confidence in the Sindh police. It recommended a broader investigation involving multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies to establish the facts and address concerns about the original probe.

The Sindh Home Department has written to the provincial inspector general of police, forwarding the commission’s observations and recommendations from a cabinet subcommittee regarding action against officers and personnel named in the report.

A separate one-member committee, headed by Additional Inspector General of the Counter Terrorism Department Zulfiqar Ali Larak, has been established to examine the roles and performance of the police officials mentioned in the commission’s findings.

The committee will review the conduct and capabilities of each named officer, assess their overall performance, and investigate Inspector Ghaus’s alleged role in the burning of the crime scene. It will submit a report to the Sindh inspector general of police with findings and recommendations concerning each official.

The Home Department has also approached the provincial health secretary over the commission’s observations regarding the medical investigation. A cabinet subcommittee has recommended removing Dr Osama Sheikh from his position and requiring him to undergo two years of training.

The commission had criticised changes made to the medical board examining the case, describing the decision as irregular and legally flawed. It questioned the role of senior officials in the Sindh Health Secretariat and the director-general of health services in the process.

In a separate development, the Sindh government has requested the Ministry of Interior to nominate a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer of grade 20 or above to lead another committee examining the case. DIG Irfan Baloch and DIG Naeem Ahmed Sheikh are also proposed as members of the committee.

The proposed inquiry is intended to examine whether police officials involved in the first 10 days of the investigation violated Sections 201, 166(2) and 218 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which address offences involving the disappearance of evidence and misconduct by public servants.

The judicial commission recommended formal inquiries against officials responsible for failures in the initial investigation. It also called on the police to acknowledge their shortcomings and issue a transparent apology.

The commission said the involvement of multiple agencies was necessary to help restore public confidence, particularly because some physical evidence had been compromised. It cautioned that even identifying and apprehending the actual perpetrator might not fully resolve public doubts after the loss of trust caused by the initial investigation.