• KU lab sends two reports of samples collected from victim’s body to investigators
• Finds no sedative, psychotropic, narcotic or poisonous substance in his blood
• Victim’s family lawyer Jibran Nasir says this shows a person can’t shoot himself in the back with both hands

KARACHI: The sample analysis report of young businessman Mir Raza Ali found gunshot residue (GSR) on his chest and back wounds, as well as the skin of his right and left hands, it emerged on Monday.

Raza, the owner of eatery Wafflix, had gone missing on July 28, and his bullet-riddled body was found a day later in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. Due to a controversy over his initial autopsy, a second post-mortem examination was conducted after his family moved a court for exhumation of the body.

Initial findings of the second post-mortem examination had revealed multiple injuries and a congealed black substance in his mouth and throat.

Samples collected during the second autopsy following exhumation were sent for forensic analysis. The samples were tested at the Sindh Forensic DNA and Serology Laboratory at the Karachi University’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), following which two reports were released and shared with the media.

One of the reports, dated August 17, said that GSR was found on the swabs from Raza’s chest and back wounds, the skin of both his hands and the swabs from both hands.

Moreover, no “sedative, psychotropic, narcotic, or poisonous” substance was found on his forehead’s skin, the cotton covering his face, right foot’s skin, soil above his grave, soil underneath the corpse, swab from nasopharynx, swab from mouth and his right hand’s skin, the report said.

It further said that no foreign compounds were found on the collected articles.

The second sample analysis report, dated Aug 11, said that following an examination of Raza’s shirt, a perforation on the posterior (back) portion, with a corresponding larger defect on the anterior (front) portion had been found.

According to the report, the posterior defect was approximately 6.99 millimetres in diameter while the anterior defect was approximately 35.37mm in diameter.

As per the reports, the examination of material collected from the areas surrounding the defects detected lead and barium on both the posterior and anterior portions of the shirt. “These elements are commonly associated with conventional firearm discharge residues,” it said.

It stated that the posterior defect exhibited a “greater abundance/higher” relative concentration of the detected lead and barium signals compared with the anterior defect.

The report said traces of bupivacaine, an amide-type local anaesthetic, was found in Raza’s blood and traces of acid on his shirt.

No detectable traces of “sedative, psychotropic, narcotic, or poisonous” substance were identified in the contents of his stomach, pieces of lungs, liver, kidney and spleen.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed declined to comment when contacted.

Speaking to Dawn, counsel for Mir Raza’s family Jibran Nasir said: “Officially, we have not received any reports so far. However, some reports from the police’s internal portal are reaching the media through sources, according to which GSR has been found on both hands of Raza. This makes it clear that a person cannot fire a gun at his own back with both hands.”

He further said the alleged reports suggested that Mir Raza had possibly fired after sensing some threat.

Quoting media reports, Advocate Nasir said it was unfortunate that the samples had been destroyed due to decomposition and it was therefore no longer possible to determine whether acid was present.

He said this could have been avoided if proper samples had been secured at that time.

He demanded that the authorities identify and arrest the murderers.

“So far, we have not been told who the murderers are. Instead, we are being asked whether we suspect anyone,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026