• Corpse of IBA graduate to be dug up for fresh autopsy today
• Exhumation planned for Friday postponed after family objected to abrupt reconstitution of board

KARACHI: After a day of uncertainty over the exhumation of the body of IBA graduate and businessman Mir Raza Ali, the Sindh government on Friday evening restored the original medical board, which is set to exhume the body on Saturday (today).

The exhumation, which was scheduled for Friday morning, was postponed after Raza’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of a medical board and inclusion of members from outside Karachi division.

Raza’s body was found in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he went missing on July 28.

On Thursday, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Raza’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation.

The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, with Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed as the convener. Prof Dr Naseem Ahmed of Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr Farah Waseem of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Amir Hassan Khan of Citizens Police Liaison Committee, Additional Police Surgeon Dr Sirichand, Dr Kamran Khan and Dr Daniyal Mirza of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Dr Mohammed Yaseen, the admin in-charge of the police surgeon office, were the other members of the board.

However, in the small hours of Friday morning, the board was reconstituted through an order issued by the director general of the Sindh health department.

While Dr Syed remained the convener of the new five-member board, its members were changed to Prof Dr Zakiuddin from DUHS, Prof Dr Kazi Akbar and Prof Dr Abid Hussain Chang from Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences and Hyderabad Police Surgeon Dr Waseem Khan.

On Friday morning, Raza’s family was present at the Tariq Road graveyard for the exhumation.

But, the exhumation was deferred, with the counsel for Raza’s family, Jibran Nasir, telling the media that they had informed the investigating officer that the family had rejected the reconstituted board and would not accept an exhumation by it “under any circumstances”.

Standing alongside Raza’s father, Advocate Nasir accused the authorities of trying to bury the facts and held the police, health department and the Sindh government responsible for the delay.

The family could not allow the exhumation to be performed by members whose “qualifications and intentions were under question”, he added.

He recalled that the previous night, DG-health dismissed the original board and reconstituted it, adding four names from Hyderabad.

He claimed that following outcry over the reconstituted board, the DG-health then issued a “backdated notification at around 10am on Friday, stating that more members may be added, but the four chosen by him should also remain a part of it”.

He added that they still had not been informed why the original board was reconstituted.

The lawyer said they would not be making any demands to the police. Raza’s father was now directly raising questions to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, he said.

He asserted that they only trusted the original eight-member board, adding, “Sindh government, they were hired by you. And if they are not competent enough, then how were they appointed in the first place?”

Advocate Nasir also submitted a letter to the police surgeon on Friday, wherein he formally informed her of the family’s non-consent and stated that the reconstituted board was in “complete violation and negation” of the court’s order and had no legal basis.

He held that it carried no binding value and was nothing “but a malicious attempt to interfere with judicial proceedings initiated by the court” and any directive in support of the board shall be viewed as a “further malicious attempt to provide cover to an illegal act and sabotage fair and transparent investigation”.

He said the family had not consented to the exhumation by the reconstituted board and warned that any attempt to proceed with the exhumation under the reconstituted medical board will be a violation of the dignity of the deceased, will put evidence at risk and will be a “blatant” contempt of court.

Late in the evening, the Sindh health secretary issued a notification, restoring the original eight-member medical board.

Following the notification, the police surgeon sent a letter to the magistrate concerned and other members of the board, informing them that the exhumation is scheduled to be conducted at the graveyard adjacent to Rehmania Masjid at 11am on Saturday (today).

Prior to the restoration of the original medical board, the police surgeon expressed her frustration over “impediments” in a post on X. The post was deleted after the government restored the eight-member board.

It may be noted that the case took a new turn when the police surgeon told a private news channel on Tuesday that the post-mortem findings had raised several questions, as some observations in the report did not appear to match the available photographs.

Her interview prompted the police authorities to issue a statement, terming such observations as having the potential to adversely affect the ongoing investigation.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026