Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan said on Monday the provincial government had deferred the decision on the formation of a judicial commission to probe the Mir Raza Ali murder case.

Lanjar made the announcement on X, saying that Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab had spoken to Ali’s family had “confidence in the new police team” constituted to investigate the case and was of the view that it should conduct the probe.

“Therefore, the decision of establishing a judicial commission has been deferred for the time being,” he said.

An IBA graduate and the owner of eatery Wafflix, Ali had gone missing on July 28, and his body was found a day later with a gunshot wound in bushes in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

While his family was convinced that he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, police had previously been building the case around the possibility that he died by suicide.

A murder charge was eventually added to the first information report after the exhumation and a second postmortem of Ali’s body revealed that he had suffered multiple injuries and was shot in the back, ruling out the possibility of suicide.

On Sunday, PPP leader Faryal Talpur recommended a judicial commission to probe the case, saying it should examine all aspects of the incident and bring the facts to light.

A few hours after Talpur’s statement, Lanjar and Wahab had reached Ali’s residence, met with his father, Mir Hussain Ali, and assured the family that they would be provided complete justice. Talking to the media after the meeting, Lanjar had said a decision had been taken to conduct a judicial inquiry, under the supervision of a Sindh High Court judge, into the murder case.

However, Jibran Nasir, the family’s lawyer, posted on X that they had not requested or consented to any judicial commission.

“Nor do we believe it’s required at this stage. A new investigation team has been formed, which the family will meet tomorrow. The Sindh government should not try to create hurdles/confusion in the name of ‘facilitation,’“ he said.

On Sunday, the Sindh inspector general of police’s office had notified the reconstitution of the investigating team probing Ali’s death, dismissing the previous investigation team and appointing Sindh Deputy IG (Crime and Investigation) Amir Farooqi to lead a five-member new committee.

The committee would comprise Rapid Response Force Al-Falah SSP Syed Muhammad Ali Raza, Korangi SP (Investigation) Qais Khan, Central SP (Investigation) Anam Tajjamul and Zaman Town SIO Ch. Ghazanfar, the police order said.

The order, seen by Dawn, said the new investigating team was formed in light of Ali’s second postmortem report, which contradicted the one released after his first postmortem.

The order also came after the family’s lawyer, Nasir, had demanded that the first investigation team be replaced following the second post-mortem report, which had ruled out the possibility of suicide.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, he had said that he and the family had “no faith” in the investigation team and wanted the entire team replaced.

It should also be mentioned that Karachi police chief Azad Khan on Sunday suspended Sharea Faisal DSP Muhammad Arshad Afridi and Gulistan-i-Jauhar SHO Kamran Qureshi with immediate effect for failing to preserve the crime scene and conduct a proper crime-scene investigation after the deceased’s body was found. He also ordered the case to be transferred to Zaman Town Police Station from Ferozabad Police Station, where the case was initially registered.

Controversy over autopsy

The latest developments in the case follow a controversy between the Karachi police surgeon and investigators over alleged loopholes in the medico-legal report regarding Ali’s first post-mortem examination.

Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told a private news channel last week that the post-mortem findings of Ali’s body had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.

The police surgeon, whose assessment was based only on the post-mortem report and photographs as she had not examined the body herself back then, had said the reported entry wound, bullet trajectory and exit wound did not correspond with one another.

The police surgeon noted that entry wounds were 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.

The statement, however, said that exhumation of the dead body could be done on the medical board’s recommendation for further clarification by a committee of medico-legal experts with the court’s permission.

On August 6, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Ali’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation.

The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with Dr Syed as the convener. Prof Dr Naseem Ahmed of Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr Farah Waseem of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Amir Hassan Khan of Citizens Police Liaison Committee, Additional Police Surgeon Dr Sirichand, Dr Kamran Khan and Dr Daniyal Mirza of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, and Dr Mohammed Yaseen, the admin in-charge of the police surgeon office, were the other members of the board.

However, in the early hours of August 7, the board was reconstituted through an order issued by the director general of the Sindh health department.

While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed to Prof Dr Zakiuddin from DUHS, Prof Dr Kazi Akbar and Prof Dr Abid Hussain Chang from Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, and Hyderabad Police Surgeon Dr Waseem Khan.

On Friday morning, Ali’s family was present at the Tariq Road graveyard for the exhumation, which was deferred after they objected to the new board. Standing alongside Ali’s father, Nasir had accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts and held the police, health department and the Sindh government responsible for the delay.

The Sindh government then restored the original medical board later in the day, following which Ali’s body was exhumed on Saturday.

After a second postmortem of the body, Dr Syed told Dawn, “We have collected samples for identification, chemical analysis and gunshot residue. The cause of death is reserved for laboratory reports.”

Regarding the autopsy, she said that multiple injuries were found on the head and face. “Fractured rib on the back, which is the entry wound of the gunshot [that] exited from the front,” she said.

She said the body bore “injuries in right flank and feet [and] congealed black substance present in mouth and throat”.