KARACHI: A judicial commission formed to investigate the circumstances and possible negligence in businessman Mir Raza Ali’s murder case has determined The Sindh cabinet decided to make the report public during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah earlier in the day. Justice Omar Sial of the Sindh High Court (SHC) had been heading the judicial panel. “This case demonstrates an epic failure by the police in their investigation,” the report, sections of which are available with Dawn, said. “The police breached all required procedures, both knowingly and unknowingly, necessary to withstand judicial scrutiny and a successful prosecution,” it stated. While acknowledging that the initial police response when they were informed of the presence of a body was prompt, the report noted that subsequent events “left a lot to be desired”. Panel formed to ensure implementation According to a handout issued by the Sindh chief minister’s spokesperson, the judicial inquiry report was presented in seven separate sealed envelopes. It will be uploaded on the website of the provincial home department on Tuesday, while a copy will also be provided to the aggrieved family. Further, CM Shah also constituted a four-member sub-committee to ensure the implementation of the report. The committee comprises Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani and the Sindh advocate general. Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon also took to X to announce that the report would be made public on Tuesday. “The government of Sindh remains committed to transparency, accountability and ensuring that due process of law is upheld,” he said. Last week, the commission handed over the sealed report to the provincial government after examining 49 witnesses during 15 hearings. The inquiry report, along with associated documents, was handed over to the focal person of the provincial government and Home Department Additional Secretary Javed Ahmed Abro by the commission registrar, Abdul Majid, on the premises of the SHC. After receiving the record, Abro told reporters that he would hand over the sealed report along with other records to the provincial government and it was the prerogative of the government to decide whether the inquiry report was to be brought into the public domain or otherwise. In August, the provincial government formed the commission, which was tasked with making recommendations for further investigation and forensic analysis or legal/departmental action, and it was required to submit its findings and recommendations to the Sindh government within 30 days. However, the commission had struggled to meet its deadline and sent an application last month to the Sindh government for an extension in its tenure till Oct 15. Therefore, the provincial cabinet granted an extension. Besides examining 49 witnesses and available record, the commission had also sent questionnaires to Karachi police chief Azad Khan, head of current investigation team DIG Amir Farooqui and DIG East Farrukh Lanjar after dismissing an application of aggrieved family to summon the senior police officers to testify before the commission. The 25-year-old businessman and Institute of Business Administration graduate had gone missing on July 28 after leaving his home in PECHS and his body with gunshot wounds was found a day later in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s locality. Initially, the police built the case around suicide on the basis of the first autopsy, which indicated a bullet entry wound on the chest, and by pointing out business losses and money borrowed by the victim. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed had disputed the findings of the first post-mortem conducted by medico-legal officer Dr Osama Sheikh. The second post-mortem report, however, termed its findings “inconsistent” with suicide as the manner of Mir Raza’s death. It said the Exhumation Board was of the unanimous opinion that the death was caused by a gunshot wound to the back. More to follow