BADIN: A murder FIR was lodged on Tuesday against four friends of Asad Ali Leghari — the son of slain Sindh United Party (SUP) leader Anwer Ali Leghari — who died in mysterious circumstances in Tando Bago town of Badin district a day earlier.

The FIR (80/2017) was lodged by the deceased youth’s maternal uncle, Dr Naeem Memon, against his four friends, Faheem Ahmed Samoon, Furqan Magsi, Awais Ahmed Magsi and Tauseef Ahmed Memon.

The complainant has said that his nephew was “not an addict”. He contested the suspects’ claim that Asad had consumed some pills and liquor before suffering a fatal heart attack. Dr Memon claimed that the murder was linked with a conspiracy against the Leghari family that had a strong political background.

Asad’s father, Anwer Ali Leg­hari, was killed in a violent incident during the November 2015 local government elections in the Qasimabad area of Hyderabad.

Dr Memon stated in the FIR that Asad had made a telephone call to his mother on Sunday night to tell her that he was with some friends in Hyderabad [although he was in Tando Bago at that time].

He said Asad might have been deceived by his friends, who took him to Tando Bago under a possible murder conspiracy.

Tando Bago SHO Hakim Ali Jalbani told local reporters on Tuesday that police were investigating the case from different angles. He said that the post-mortem and other medical reports were also being sought from the board of three doctors, who had performed the autopsy and collected the suspects’ samples as well.

All four suspects are currently in police custody.

Sources in the area police said that the name of Tando Bago town committee chairman Khan Sahib Khan Jamali was also mentioned in the FIR but they did not say whether the complainant listed him as one of the suspects. Mr Jamali helped Asad’s friends take him to the taluka hospital in critical condition. It was stated that Asad died at the hospital before doctors could provide any treatment to him.

Dr Dodo Mehri and other SUP leaders and activists, as well as several members of the Leghari and Memon families, were present at the police station during the long FIR process.

SUP chief Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, in a press statement issued on Tuesday, demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of Asad Leghari.

The SUP chief said that the son of his slain comrade, Dr Anwer Ali Leghari, might have been murdered under a conspiracy. He expressed his dissatisfaction over police investigation.

Asad Leghari, 25, was an MSc final-year student of the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCASW) at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET). His family said he was a brilliant student and intended to proceed to the US to do his PhD afterwards.

According to the investigation held so far, Asad Leghari along with his three friends — Furqan Magsi, Mohammed Awais Magsi and Tauseef Ahmed Memon — went to the residence of their common friend, Faheem Ahmed Samoon, in Tando Bago after leaving a party they attended in the office of a housing scheme.

He felt unwell and when his condition deteriorated, his friends contacted Khan Sahib Khan Jamali for his advice.

Later, Mr Jamali brought Asad Leghari to the taluka hospital where he died minutes afterwards. Mr Jamali reported the death to the police.

The body was collected by his uncles, Ameer Bukhsh Leghari and Dr Naeem Ahmed Memon after a post-mortem examination was performed.

All four of Asad’s friends were taken into custody for interrogation soon after his death was reported. Later, they were taken to an undisclosed place by the police.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017