BADIN: While the Jamshoro police and Sindh University have instituted separate inquiries into the death of a third-year student of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Atif Arain, 21, his father, Shafiq Arain, on Friday contested findings of the preliminary investigation that suggested it to be a suicide case.

Atif Arain was found dead in his room (no. 61) of the university’s Ibn-i-Sina Hostel in Jamshoro on Thursday. His body was lying in a pool of blood on the bed. He was holding a pistol in his hand and a bullet wound was visible on the right side of the temple.

Arain’s roommate, Rafay, reportedly told police that when he returned to the room after his personal engagement that night, he found the door of the room locked from inside. He said he broke open the door and found Arain lying on the bed in a pool of blood. He had already died, Rafay said.

The deceased student, a resident of Shaheed Fazil Rahu (formerly Golarchi) town, was laid to rest in his ancestral Qasim Shah graveyard near the town on Friday. A partial shutdown was observed in the town to mourn the death.

Speaking to mourners at the funeral, Sha­fiq Arain, a rice miller, rejected the claim that his son had committed suicide. He demanded a fair inquiry into the matter.

HYDERABAD: LUMHS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Bikha Ram had on Thursday formed an institutional inquiry committee comprising the hostel provost and warden, director of student affairs and campus director to determine the circumstances leading to the incident.

Commenting on the incident, he was quoted as saying that though it apparently seemed to be a suicide, a cause of suicide needed to be determined.

Jamshoro SSP Tauqir Naeem also belie­v­ed it was a suicide case but added that an investigation must be conducted from other angles. The police officer noted that Arain’s one brother was fighting cancer while another one had already died of cancer. The situation might have caused mental stress to him, he said.

According to VC Bikha Ram, “last [Thurs­day] night Arain had sent a message aaj ki raat barri yadgar hogi to his roommate”. He said Rafay did not understand the message at that time. The VC quoted Arain’s friends as saying that he was active in a WhatsApp group till 1am.

He said that the committee would certainly investigate how Arain took the weapon to his room [unchecked].

DADU: SSP Tauqir Naeem on Friday named the police inquiry team led by Kotri DSP Nazar Mohammad Deshak. Kotri SHO Imran Afridi, Jamshoro SHO Ashfaq Ahmed Mangi and Jamshoro Additional SHO Roshan Ali Tunio are the other members of the team. The team visited Arain’s room and collected details of the incident.

The SSP said that besides circumstantial evidence, the post-mortem report also found it to be a suicide case.

However, he added, the case would be investigated from different angles to ascertain facts. He said that pieces of evidence found in the room would be sent to a lab for a forensic examination. Interviews with the student’s family members and friends would also be conducted, he added.

LUMHS registrar Dr Murtaza Dayo told Dawn on Friday that the inquiry committee formed by the VC would comprise three senior professors and three administration officers, headed by Dean Faculty of Dentistry Prof Feroz Kalhoro.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019