KARACHI – Sindh government formally notified joint investigation team following a judicial commission’s scathing findings on the original police inquiry. The notification, issued by the Sindh Home Department on Wednesday after Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s approval, places DIG West Irfan Ali Baloch at the head of the investigation.
Representatives of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Rangers and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) will join the team tasked with answering the questions that have surrounded the 25-year-old’s death since July.
The move follows the judicial commission’s recommendation for a fresh, multi-agency investigation after it concluded that Mir Raza had been murdered and identified serious shortcomings in the police handling of the case.
FIR No. 795/2026 has been handed over to the JIT, which will investigate allegations of murder, abduction and destruction of evidence. Its mandate extends beyond establishing how Mir Raza died. Investigators will also examine the issues flagged by the inquiry commission, including possible negligence and interference with evidence during the earlier investigation.
The team has been instructed to gather all available physical, forensic and digital material. Mobile phones, an Apple Watch, iCloud data and social media accounts will undergo forensic examination, while Mir Raza’s cryptocurrency holdings and Binance accounts will also come under scrutiny. Investigators must identify those responsible and submit their findings and a charge sheet before the court. All relevant departments and agencies have been directed to cooperate fully.
The formal notification follows an October 26 communication in which the NCCIA nominated Deputy Director Shehzad Akbar to represent the agency on the JIT. In its reply to the Sindh Home Department, the agency said its nominated officer would provide full assistance to the investigation.
That support will include digital forensic analysis, examination of mobile phone data and technical assistance in analysing Mir Raza’s smartwatch — evidence that could help investigators reconstruct events surrounding his disappearance and death.
Mir Raza disappeared from his residence in Karachi’s PECHS neighbourhood on July 28. A day later, his body was discovered at a deserted location in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Police initially considered the possibility of suicide, but his family challenged that assessment, suspected foul play and demanded a transparent investigation.
Questions over the first post-mortem examination and the police inquiry subsequently brought the case before the court.
Eastlier this year, the court allowed the body to be exhumed for another post-mortem. A disagreement over the constitution of the medical board delayed the procedure, which was eventually carried out on August 8. The second examination documented the gunshot injury and the bullet’s path through the body. Those findings were described as inconsistent with the initial suicide assessment, and a murder charge was later added to the case.
As doubts over the investigation deepened, the Sindh government established a judicial commission on August 24 under Sindh High Court Justice Omar Sial. The commission reviewed the circumstances of Mir Raza’s death, the initial police response, medical findings and the way evidence had been collected. Meanwhile, on September 2, the Sindh High Court rejected the family’s request for an independent, multi-agency JIT, holding that the authority to constitute such a team rested with the government.
The commission’s findings later gave the case a decisive new direction. In a 62-page report issued on October 20, it concluded that Mir Raza’s death was a murder and described the police investigation as a serious failure. Alongside identifying substantial flaws in the inquiry, the commission recommended a JIT to pursue further investigation and examine whether negligence or evidence tampering had affected the case.
In light of those recommendations, the Sindh government moved on October 24 to constitute a JIT under DIG Irfan Baloch, with representation from Rangers, federal intelligence agencies and the NCCIA. The team was assigned to reassess the evidence and resolve questions left unanswered by the initial investigation. Wednesday’s formal notification sets out the team’s composition and investigative responsibilities.
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