Update · 26 Oct 2026, 7:51 PM PKT: The NCCIA has nominated a new officer to the joint investigation team probing Mir Raza Ali's death after objections, replacing Shehzad Akbar.
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has named Deputy Director Shehzad Akbar to the joint investigation team (JIT) looking into the death of Karachi businessman Mir Raza Ali. The agency will also provide technical support for the review of digital evidence.
A notification and correspondence sent to the Sindh Home Department state that Akbar, who works in the NCCIA’s Sindh Zone in Karachi, will represent the agency on the team. The move follows a judicial commission’s recommendation that a senior NCCIA official be part of the probe to make the inquiry thorough.
Digital evidence to be examined by the agency
The NCCIA will help the JIT go through mobile phone data, social media activity and cryptocurrency records. It will also carry out digital forensic analysis.
Formation of the JIT after the commission’s findings
The JIT is headed by DIG Irfan Baloch. The Sindh government set it up after a judicial commission led by Sindh High Court Justice Omar Sial made its recommendations.
Mir Raza Ali, 25, went missing on July 28 after leaving his home in Karachi’s PECHS area. His body was found in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar the following day.
Commission rejects suicide and faults the original police probe
The commission examined the circumstances of the death and possible lapses in the first investigation. It recommended a wider inquiry involving senior representatives of intelligence agencies, Sindh Rangers and the NCCIA.
The commission’s report, which the Sindh government later made public, concluded that Raza was murdered rather than having died by suicide. It described the original police investigation as seriously negligent and unprofessional, said significant evidence had been compromised and did not rule out a cover-up. It recommended a fresh JIT-led investigation and action against officials whose conduct had come under scrutiny.
