KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday issued a show-cause notice to DIG Irfan Baloch, chief of the newly formed joint investigation team (JIT) in the Mir Raza murder case, after police failed to submit the final charge sheet. He has been directed to respond by Nov 10.

The Sindh home department had formed the JIT, led by DIG Baloch, on the recommendation of a single-member judicial commission comprising Justice Omar Sial of the Sindh High Court.

The team was tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding Mir Raza’s death and possible negligence in the case.

Two previous high-level investigation teams had failed to identify the culprit or establish how Mir Raza’s body came to be found in mysterious circumstances.

DSP Lashari is no longer IO in the case after formation of JIT, court told

The then investigating officers (IOs) had sought three extensions to submit the final report, saying that they were awaiting forensic reports and a response from Apple company regarding Mir Raza’s mobile phone.

Complainant’s counsel Daniyal Muhammad Hussain told Dawn that at Monday’s hearing the complainant’s side informed the court that DSP Sirajuddin Lashari was no longer the IO in the case as a JIT had been formed. He also submitted the official notification regarding the JIT’s formation.

He added that no police official or JIT member appeared before the court, although the date had been fixed for submission of the final charge sheet.

After a brief hearing, the magistrate asked the JIT head to explain why the charge sheet had not been submitted.

DSP Lashari told this reporter that he had handed over the case file to the JIT head so the team could proceed with the investigation, adding that he was no longer the IO.

Mir Raza, 25, a businessman, had gone missing on July 28 after leaving his home in PECHS. His body, bearing a gunshot wound, was found in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar a day later.

In his interim report, the IO named 63 witnesses but wrote “no one” in the column for the accused. In his conclusion, he stated that despite probing all possible angles, police had yet to find any clue or make a breakthrough.

The report also contained detailed information about the case, from the registration of the FIR on the complaint of Mir Raza’s father after he went missing to the handover of the investigation to the JIT.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2026