KARACHI: An attorney for the family of Mir Raza Ali, a 25-year-old Karachi businessman found shot dead in July, said Monday the family will go to court if the Sindh government withholds a judicial commission's report on his killing and renewed a demand for a joint investigation team.
Jibran Nasir told reporters the report is expected before the provincial cabinet the next day. The cabinet is to decide whether to give it to the family or make it public.
Nasir said the family wrote to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Oct. 12 asking that the report be given to Raza's parents and that a joint investigation team, or JIT, be formed.
"If we do not get the report, we will go to court," Nasir said.
He said the commission was created to answer the family's questions and restore its confidence. He said the commission has stated its position while the police "have been made to stand in a separate line," and urged the government not to place itself alongside the police. He also said the public feels insecure over the case and asked who is backing the secrecy around the report. He alleged that "scandals" are being raised about Raza's parents.
Raza went missing July 28, and his body was found a day later with a gunshot wound in bushes near Shahi Qila Ground in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. He owned the popular dessert shop Wafflix and was allegedly kidnapped from the PECHS area.
Police amended the case to add murder and concealment-of-evidence charges after Raza's grave was exhumed under a magistrate's supervision. A new police team took over after flaws in the first autopsy report were revealed by a committee led by Dr. Summaiya. A final postmortem report later ruled out suicide and confirmed he died from a gunshot wound, Sindh Police said.
The Sindh government approved a judicial commission on Aug. 23. The case was originally registered at Ferozabad Police Station. The Sindh High Court constituted the commission the next day, with Justice Umar Sial as its head. Raza's parents, Mir Hassan Ali and Maryam Hussain, and his sister, Alishba Khan, challenged the commission before the High Court through Nasir. They sought a JIT with representatives of Sindh Police, Rangers, the Federal Investigation Agency and intelligence agencies.
On Sept. 24, the commission strongly criticized SSP Samiullah Soomro over alleged lapses, including the burning of the crime scene and the handling of key evidence. Nasir had earlier accused police and the provincial government of failing to act against officials who compromised the investigation.
The commission held 15 hearings and recorded statements from 49 people, two of them by video link. Its term, which was due to end Sept. 27, was extended so it could finish the report. On Oct. 15, its registrar handed the report in seven sealed envelopes to Additional Secretary Home Javed Abro. Abro said the proceedings were held in open court but the report was sealed. The report also examines institutional shortcomings in the case.
Abro said the report will be opened before the government, which will decide whether to make it public.