KARACHI, May 13: The cause of Balochistan National Party activist Mohammad Hasan Gichki’s death could not be ascertained in the first or second autopsy, according to the final report submitted to Justice Zawwar Hussain Jaffery of the Sindh High Court, who is holding an inquiry into the prisoner’s custodial death.

Dr Ghulam Ali, who produced the final autopsy report on behalf of a five-member medical board, said the there were injuries on the deceased’s head, nose and spinal cord but there was no certainty that they caused his death.

The deceased was a healthy man otherwise and injuries on parts of his body could not be ignored.

Judicial magistrate (district south) Muqtadar Ali Khan said he supervised two post-mortem examinations as directed by the district and sessions judge (south). There was no marks of violence or bone injury or bleeding on the body when he saw it. He prepared the inquest report twice under Section 176 of the criminal procedure code in the presence of two witnesses. The viscera were also sent to chemical examiner and pathologist twice.

According to advocates Syed Ghulam Shah and Abdul Wahab Baloch, who represent the complainant, there were discrepancies in the judicial magistrate’s reports while the medical report submitted by senior doctors corroborated the allegation that Hasan Gichki was beaten up and tortured in the Central Prison, where he was lodged for trial in two narcotics cases.

Advocates M Ilyas Khan and Mohammad Farooq, who are appearing for the accused jail officials, said the reports exonerated the accused as the death was not attributable to torture. Assistant Advocate-General Arshad Lodhi represents the provincial government at the inquiry.