March 02, 2008	Sunday	Safar 23, 1429

KARACHI, March 1: A special medical board of the Sindh police exhumed the body of a man on Saturday for post-mortem in Orangi Town, where he was buried after being killed allegedly by a woman, with whom he had developed a relationship.

However, officials said the initial findings suggested that the victim, Mohammad Atique, was killed by more than one person. The team also collected samples from the body for detailed chemical examinations to find out if he had been poisoned to death.

“It took almost six hours to complete the job,” said police surgeon Dr Bashir Sheikh, who headed the medical board. “There were marks of torture on the victim’s chest and his hands were tied with a rope. It appears he faced more than one person before he was killed.”

However, he said, the chemical examination would show the use of poison, if at all, in the killing, adding that the examination results could take three to six weeks to get compiled.

Atique, a milk supplier, was allegedly killed by Shamshad Bibi and her associate Irfan on Feb 14, the day he left his house in Manzoor Colony after receiving a call on his cellphone.The police later arrested Irfan, who claimed he only assisted in burying the body inside his home after Atique was murdered by Shamshad Bibi, who is absconding. His disclosures led to orders by a civil judge and judicial magistrate to the police surgeon to constitute a medical board for the exhumation.

“The grave we opened was almost five-feet deep and it seems the man was buried in haste as his mouth was gagged with a piece of cloth and he was wearing a proper dress,” said Dr Sheikh, the police surgeon.

The board headed by the police surgeon consisted of Dr Farhat Hussain Mirza, Dr Muneer Soomro and Dr Abdul Haque.