The Sindh government has formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to examine the killing of Mir Raza, acting on recommendations from a judicial commission set up for the case. According to an official letter, DIG Irfan Ali Baloch will lead the team, which will include representatives from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau, Sindh Rangers and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
Mir Raza, an IBA graduate who ran a waffle business, left his PECHS residence in the early hours of July 28. His family reported him missing the same day, and his body was found the following morning in the area of Gulistan-e-Johar Police Station.
Judicial commission criticises police handling of the case
The single-member commission, headed by Sindh High Court judge Justice Omar Sial, described the police investigation as an “epic failure”. It said officers had not followed the procedures needed to withstand judicial scrutiny and to support a successful prosecution, and it proposed the JIT.
The provincial Home Department has since written to the Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP), passing on the commission’s observations and the recommendations of a provincial cabinet subcommittee on action against police officers named in the report. In a separate letter to the health secretary, the department recommended that Dr Osama Sheikh, a medico-legal officer who carried out the initial post-mortem, be removed from his post and made to undergo two years of training.
Further committees to review police conduct
The Sindh government has also decided to set up another investigation committee, to be headed by a senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer. It has asked the federal interior ministry to nominate an FIA officer of Grade 20 or above for the role. DIG Baloch and DIG Naeem Ahmed Shaikh are also expected to sit on the proposed panel.
Separately, a one-member committee led by Additional Inspector General of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Zulfiqar Ali Larik has been formed to review the roles of police officers and personnel named in the commission’s report. According to the notification, DIG Baloch will assist Larik, and the panel will also examine the wider policing performance of those named. The inquiry will further examine the role of Inspector Ghaus in the burning of the crime scene, and the committee will submit its findings and recommendations to the Sindh IGP.
