The judicial commission investigating the Mir Raza Ali murder case has raised serious questions about the initial police investigation and evidence handling. The commission questioned former investigating officer Shabeer Laghari during proceedings and expressed concerns over several aspects of the probe.

Investigation comes under scrutiny

Justice Omar Sial questioned Laghari over the handling of the crime scene and asked why key evidence, including a bullet or holster, had not initially been recovered. The commission also questioned why police from another jurisdiction were involved in parts of the investigation.

Laghari said he visited the crime scene on July 30 with Sub-Inspector Arshad Javed and that SHO Adeel Afzal was already present. He said Gulistan-e-Johar police were responsible for securing the scene, while the SHO was obtaining CCTV footage.

The commission rejected the explanation, noting that the case had been registered at Laghari’s police station and that he was the investigating officer. It also questioned the evidentiary value of CCTV footage and asked about the legal basis for keeping post-mortem samples in an officer’s personal possession.

Questions over weapon evidence

The commission also asked how a pistol receipt had been obtained when the weapon itself had not been recovered. Laghari said a security guard, Mazhar, had shown him a company letter and pistol receipt.

The commission expressed reservations about the investigation and adjourned proceedings until September 21. The case has previously faced scrutiny over crime-scene preservation, post-mortem findings and the handling of police records.