HYDERABAD: Police on Sunday detained noted poet Dr Akash Ansari’s adopted son, Latif, and his driver from Badin for interrogation after autopsy suggested multiple wounds having been inflicted on the body.
Dr Akash was killed in a fire that had broken out on Saturday morning in his locked room while he was asleep inside his Citizens Colony residence in Hyderabad on Saturday morning.
Circumstantial evidence had earlier made police and the affected family to believe that it was an accidental fire. But when the autopsy exposed marks of injuries all along the almost charred body, making the police to investigate the incident as a suspected murder case.
Latif and his driver, Ashiq, were detained after funeral of the poet late Saturday evening.
SP (Headquarters) Masood Iqbal, who is heading the investigation team under Hyderabad SSP’s directive, confirmed that Latif and Ashiq had been detained for questioning.
The postmortem report of Dr Akash is likely to be issued on Monday (today).
The autopsy was conducted by Dr Abdul Hameed Mughal under the supervision of his senior, Dr Imran Khawaja.
MLO Dr Mughal confirmed that the multiple injuries “all over the deceased’s body” were deep and superficial in nature. He said that a final opinion would appear in the report to be issued after consultation with police surgeon Dr Wasim Khan.
The MLO said an X-Ray had been done to ascertain nature of bone fractures, adding that the radiology department would issue such report.
According to another doctor at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), “three wounds were muscle deep whereas cavity-deep wounds are more in number. The cavity-deep wounds are considered severer when compared with muscle-deep category”.
He explained that there were reports that lungs and bones of the deceased were also damages. “The wounds are found near front neck, chest, upper left arm side, right thigh and back of chest,” he said.
A police source claimed that Latif was a drug addict.
“He told police investigators that he had returned to the house [some time on Friday night] from outside but then left after telling Ashiq that he would return home late. On Saturday morning, when the fire broke out in Akash’s room, Latif woke up and also awakened Ashiq to help him extinguish it,” said the source. Latif’s feet also had some burn injuries.
A detailed forensic examination of the house was carried out by police forensic team once again after the incident. Police have taken on board Ahsan Ansari, the son-in-law of Dr Akash. Mr Ahsan is said to be a judicial officer. He is also looking into all aspects of the case from different angles.
According to a source, the police had also come to know that Latif had drawn Rs3.8m through many transactions using Dr Akash’s ATM card. This had led to a dispute between Dr Akash and Latif but matter had later been settled.
Soon after the fire had broken out, Latif and Ashiq tried to put it out before a Rescue-1122 team arrived and managed to extinguish the fire.
Dilbar Halepoto, a member of rescue team, said that they were informed about the fire at 8:47am and reached the poet’s house at 8:55am. The police said the house was sealed and a special team was formed to probe the incident.
Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025
