Mir Raza Ali Case: Police Trace Final Hours as Probe Deepens
KARACHI: Investigators examining the death of 25-year-old businessman Mir Raza Ali are reconstructing his final hours, using phone records, financial activity, social-media changes, CCTV footage and witness accounts to establish what happened before his body was discovered in Karachi. The latest developments add a detailed timeline to a case that has drawn growing public attention and prompted demands from Ali's family for an independent investigation.
According to investigative sources cited by The Express Tribune, Ali, the owner of dessert business Wafflix, met a man identified as Ahmed Raja on Sharae Faisal at 5:54pm on July 27. The discussion reportedly concerned a potential investment worth between Rs70 million and Rs80 million. Later, at 7:05pm, Ali received information from a bank that a Rs100 million loan had been approved in his sister's name after an earlier application made by him had been rejected.
Investigators are also examining several communications later that evening. At approximately 8:23pm, a man identified as Farooq Mahmood reportedly contacted Ali and said he could not make an investment that Ali had previously sought. Ali later had dinner with a friend, Abdul Razzaq, shortly before midnight. Investigative sources said he subsequently contacted Sarim Syed seeking an urgent Rs30 million loan and indicated that he faced serious difficulty if the funds were not arranged by the following morning.
The digital trail is another important part of the inquiry. Sources said Ali deactivated his Instagram account shortly after 2:20am and then shut down other social-media accounts, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Snapchat, around 2:42am. His fiancée attempted to contact him at about 3:10am after noticing the disappearance of the accounts but received no response. Investigators also said Ali transferred money to his parents' accounts at approximately 3:18am.
The timeline then shifts to Ali's movements shortly before his death. Investigative sources said he reached his shop at about 3:42am, obtained a pistol belonging to a security guard and returned home around 10 minutes later. He left his residence at 4:09am using an online taxi and switched off his mobile phone during the journey at approximately 4:22am. The vehicle reached the area where his body was later recovered at about 4:35am.
CCTV footage reviewed by investigators reportedly showed Ali walking alone near the location at approximately 4:38am, around 100 to 150 metres from the place where his body was eventually found. Ali had gone missing on July 28, and his body was discovered in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar area on July 29. Police initially described the case as a suicide, but a second post-mortem later concluded that he had been murdered, intensifying scrutiny of the original investigation.
The controversy has now reached the provincial government. The Sindh government has decided to ask the chief justice of the Sindh High Court to establish a judicial commission to examine whether the investigation has been impartial and whether any police, medico-legal or other government officials were negligent, concealed evidence, misused authority or failed to perform their duties. The proposed commission would also be able to recommend further forensic work and legal or departmental action where necessary.
Ali's family, however, has rejected the proposed judicial commission and says it wants a Joint Investigation Team instead. His father, Mir Hassan, has said the family intends to approach the Sindh High Court, while relatives have questioned how the investigation has been handled and why officials they have concerns about remain involved. With police expected to submit their findings before the court and the family pursuing a separate legal route, the next phase is likely to focus on judicial oversight, forensic evidence and whether a new investigative team is constituted.