HYDERABAD, July 23: Casings of bullets fired from weapons of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell’s personnel were found in the room where the body of kidnapped neurologist Dr Aftab Qureshi was found in May.

According to a report issued recently by the forensic examination section of Sindh police, at least eight casings matching AVCC’s weapons were found.

Sources said on Sunday that AVCC officials were avoiding submitting another weapon for examination by forensic experts.

The findings are in contrast with repeated claims of the AVCC that its personnel had not fired on May 30 inside the bungalow in Qasimabad where Dr Qureshi had been kept by his kidnapper.

On Saturday, AVCC’s Inspector Babar told Additional District Judge-II Aijaz Khaskheli in the presence of the deputy chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), Najeeb Danewala, that the cell’s personnel had not fired inside the house although they had been fired upon by the kidnapper.

A Karachi police forensic examination official said: “When we started examining weapons sent to us by the Crime Branch from Hyderabad, we found that while casings matched with two weapons, there was another weapon which had not been sent to us for examination.

“The Crime Branch sent us another weapon on our query and it was found to be the one used by an AVCC official. The remaining casings matched with it,” he said.

He said 32 bullets had been sent to the forensic laboratory for examination in Hyderabad --- nine matched with the kidnapper’s weapon and some with those of police. The remaining eight casings matched with the AVCC weapon submitted later.

“The make of the weapon is 7.62 Kalashnikov which is a high-velocity weapon. We have reasons to believe that Dr Qureshi was hit by bullets fired from this high-velocity weapon,” the official said. AVCC officials had claimed that Dr Qureshi had been gunned down by the kidnapper, Yunus Siyal, before the latter came out of the house. The kidnapper was shot dead by Nasim Nagar police.

“Even after this examination, there is another weapon, believed to be a 9mm pistol, that hasn’t be provided to us for examination. We have informed the Crime Branch and they are trying to secure it,” the official said.

Deputy Inspector General (Crime Branch) Farhat Junejo said that perhaps four casings had been found close to the doctor’s body lying in a pool of blood.

AVCC officials will be included in the investigation in the wake of the ballistic expert’s report.

He said that three shells of 9mm pistol had been found in the bungalow. “So far AVCC officials have not provided us this 9mm pistol despite repeated requests.”

He said statements of AVCC officials had to be recorded but they hadn’t turned up for the purpose.

“I have already stated that the operation had been planned in haste and there was darkness in the room where Dr Qureshi had been kept. It appears that those who entered the room couldn’t recognise things and resultantly Dr Qureshi came under fire,” he said.

He said the kidnapper had been gunned down outside the house when he tried to escape. The casings of bullets which hit the kidnapper clearly matched with weapons of Hyderabad police, he said.

The botched operation took place in the remit of Bhittai Nagar police station when a joint team of CPLC and AVCC --- headed by CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy --- raided the house to rescue Dr Qureshi. An ASI of the AVCC, the neurologist and the kidnapper were killed.

A judicial investigation is being conducted by ADJ-II Aijaz Khaskheli.