Karachi: Fresh questions have emerged over the post mortem examination of Mir Raza Ali after Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told a judicial commission that key details were omitted from the official autopsy report and that documented bullet entry and exit wounds failed to correspond.
The hearing, conducted by Sindh High Court Justice Umar Sial, was abruptly adjourned following an unexpected intervention by Sindh Advocate General Javed Dero whilst human rights lawyer Jibran Nasir, representing the deceased's family, was cross examining Dr Summaiya.
Justice Sial expressed strong displeasure over the state's intervention, asking whether the government was attempting to conceal information, before ordering that Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar be issued a formal notice to appear in person before the commission on Thursday morning.
During the proceedings, the investigating officer submitted the autopsy report, forensic evaluations of Mir Raza’s mobile phone and smartwatch, and witness statements recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Testifying alongside medical board head Professor Naseem Ahmed, Dr Summaiya detailed standard medico legal protocols and clarified that Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) conducts 15 to 18 autopsies daily. Whilst she personally supervises high profile or suspicious cases, she noted that the department’s primary operational challenge lies in a lack of diligence among certain medical officers rather than a shortage of personnel.
The inquiry took a pivotal turn when Dr Summaiya disclosed her communications with the medico legal officer, Dr Usama. She testified that Dr Usama initially reported the bullet entered through the chest and exited through the back, but failed to provide photographic proof of an exit wound despite repeated requests.
On July 31, he sent a crime scene photograph which he claimed to have obtained by bribing an individual. Dr Summaiya subsequently discovered on August 1, that the autopsy report had been submitted independently without her review, omitting crucial observations including the mismatched wound trajectories and the decomposed state of the body which Dr Usama later admitted noting merely "for safety" due to nervousness.
