KARACHI: Police on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility of exhuming the body of former IBA student Mir Raza Ali after a controversy emerged between the police surgeon and investigators over alleged loopholes in the medico-legal report regarding the post-mortem examination.
While the family of Mir Raza is convinced that their son was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, investigators probing the incident continue to build their case around the possibility that he died by suicide, claiming they have uncovered significant evidence that sheds light on the 25-year-old’s mental state.
The aspiring businessman’s body, bearing a gunshot wound to his chest, was recovered from bushes near Shahi Qila in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, opposite the University of Karachi, two days after he went missing from his home in PECHS last month.
Earlier on Tuesday, Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed had told a private news channel that the post-mortem findings had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.
Head of probe body says statements from family and friends indicate former IBA student was under severe emotional and financial stress
She said the reported entry wound, bullet trajectory and exit wound did not correspond with one another. While it was scientifically possible for a bullet to enter through the back and exit from the front, she stressed that her assessment was based only on the post-mortem report and photographs, as she had not examined the body herself.
The police surgeon noted that entry wounds are typically smaller than exit wounds in firearm cases. She also said that gunshot residue, commonly found on the hands in suspected suicides, was not tested for in this case.
Her interview prompted the police authorities to issue a statement, terming such observations as having the potential to adversely affect the ongoing investigation.
“It is clarified that police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed did not conduct the post-mortem examination herself, nor did she physically examine the deceased,” according to the police statement. “Any opinion given solely on the basis of photographs, without a proper medico-legal examination and without being part of the post-mortem conducting team, is premature and not tenable in law.”
The statement, however, said that exhumation of the dead body can be done on the medical board’s recommendation for further clarification by the committee of medico-legal experts with the permission of the judiciary.
When contacted by Dawn on Wednesday, the police surgeon said: “I dispatched an official letter on Monday [to police] and conveyed all concerns. [There is] no need for me to comment now”.
Investigators continue to point to suicide
Special Investigation Unit (SIU) SSP Samiullah Soomro, who is leading the investigation team, told Dawn on Wednesday that “based on the statements collected so far from his (Raza) friends and other concerned persons, several significant facts have emerged”.
Regarding the probe, he said a day before the incident, Raza “embraced his mother and cried intensely”.
The investigation further revealed that the “family was reportedly facing severe financial difficulties,” the SSP said.
He said on the night before the incident, “he [Raza] approached one of his friends seeking Rs8 million”. Later, at around midnight, “he called another friend requesting Rs30 million”, he added.
According to the investigation, Raza also “sent a message stating that if he failed to secure the money, he might not live to see the following morning”.
The SSP said: “Several of his [Raza] friends also stated that he had expressed fears that his upcoming marriage might never take place.”
He added that Raza reportedly told his fiancée and close friends that, given the circumstances, he believed there was a strong possibility the wedding would not happen.
However, he clarified that the investigation was still underway and that they have not reached any “conclusion” about the case.
Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026
