Mir Raza's father halts court-approved exhumation after medical board change

Karachi police could not proceed with the court-approved exhumation of Mir Raza Ali on Friday after his father halted the process.

Ali, an IBA graduate and owner of the Wafflix eatery, was found dead from a gunshot wound in July. His father objected to the overnight reconstitution of the medical board ordered to conduct a fresh post-mortem.

Why was the Mir Raza Ali exhumation halted?

Police arrived at PECHS cemetery in Karachi after arrangements for the exhumation were complete, but Mir Raza Ali's father stopped the process. He said the medical board assigned to the fresh post-mortem had been changed overnight without informing the family. He demanded answers before allowing the procedure to continue.

What did Mir Raza Ali's father say about the board change?

Speaking to Nukta, Mir Hussain Ali questioned why the original medical board had been replaced late at night. He said the family had not been consulted before the decision was made. "We went to court seeking justice and agreed to the exhumation," he said. "Why was there such urgency to change the board at 1 a.m. without taking the parents into confidence?"

He also questioned the decision to include members from Hyderabad in the newly constituted board and demanded an explanation for the changes. He criticized the investigation itself, saying police had spent several days examining the crime scene before reporting the recovery of a spent bullet casing after the court ordered the exhumation. He said the sequence of developments had raised concerns for the family and repeated their position that his son's death was a homicide.

What did the family's lawyer say about the board change?

The family's lawyer, Jibran Nasir, also objected to the revised medical board during a media talk on Friday. He said the new notification constituting the board had been issued late at night and that the family had reservations about its members. He questioned why the original eight-member board had been changed and asked authorities to explain what deficiencies existed in the previous panel.

Nasir also criticized the investigation, saying it took investigators eight days to record the complainant's statement and recover a bullet casing. He questioned how the Sindh inspector general of police had said the investigation was nearing completion before the exhumation took place. He added that the family had not been asked whom they suspected in the case, and said they would only accept the original eight-member board.

What did the Karachi court order in the Mir Raza Ali case?

The controversy follows a Karachi court order issued a day earlier allowing the exhumation of Mir Raza Ali's body. The order came after an application filed by his father, and directed the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medico-legal board. The board was to carry out the procedure at the earliest possible time.

The Sindh health department initially formed an eight-member medical board headed by Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed. A subsequent notification then reconstituted the board, retaining Dr Syed as convener but replacing the remaining members. That change is what triggered the family's objection at the cemetery on Friday.

Who was Mir Raza Ali?

Mir Raza Ali, a 25-year-old graduate of the Institute of Business Administration, owned the Wafflix eatery in Karachi. He went missing on July 28, and his body was found the following day in bushes in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar area with a gunshot wound. His family maintains he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered.

Police have said their investigation has explored the possibility that he died by suicide. The dispute over the medical board has delayed the fresh post-mortem the family sought to settle the question. The investigation remains ongoing.