Mir Raza's father seeks fresh NCCIA nominee on JIT
Mir Hussain says the officer named to the joint investigation team has worked the case for two months and was pursuing a suicide narrative.
The father of Mir Raza has asked the Sindh government to replace the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency's nominee on the joint investigation team probing his son's murder, saying the officer named has already spent two months on the case arguing that the death was a suicide.
Mir Hussain made the request in a video statement, ARY News reported. He thanked the provincial government for constituting the JIT but said he had learned through media reports that Arslan Manzoor had been appointed as the NCCIA's representative on it. He described Manzoor as a competent officer but said he wanted a different appointment to the team.
According to ARY News, Mir Hussain said the nominated officer had been working on the case for the past two months and had been pursuing the suicide narrative. He said officers with no previous involvement should be nominated so that the investigation is carried out by people unconnected to the earlier handling of the case.
The demand comes after the Sindh government on Saturday ordered the suspension of Dr Osama Sheikh, the medico-legal officer who conducted the initial post-mortem examination of Mir Raza Ali, following observations in a judicial commission's report into the death. The Home Department directed the relevant authorities to initiate departmental proceedings against Dr Osama. ARY News reported that the commission described his conduct in its report as immature and childish.
Acting on the commission's recommendations, the Home Department also ordered an inquiry against Special Secretary of Health Shehryar Gul Memon. It wrote to the chief secretary asking that the recommendations contained in the judicial commission's report be implemented.
No timeline has been given for a decision on Mir Hussain's request to change the NCCIA representative, and neither the Home Department nor the NCCIA has publicly commented on it. Details of the JIT's membership beyond the cyber crime agency's nominee were not immediately available.
The case has drawn sustained public attention since Mir Raza Ali's death, with his family disputing the initial finding and pressing for a broader inquiry. The judicial commission's report, and the provincial government's orders arising from it, have shifted scrutiny onto the officials who handled the first post-mortem and the early stages of the investigation.
Sindh's Home Department has not said when the departmental proceedings against Dr Osama or the inquiry against Mr Memon will begin.
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