Mir Raza case: Businessman’s financial dealings, loans become 'key focus of probe'

KARACHI: The financial dealings and outstanding loans of young businessman Mir Raza Ali Khan, who was mysteriously abducted after disappearing from Karachi’s PECHS area and later found murdered, have emerged as a key focus of the investigation.

According to investigative sources, the probe team questioned Mir Raza’s business partner, Muhammad Ahmed, for nearly three hours on Monday.

During the questioning, it emerged that three to four individuals had contacted Mir Raza seeking repayment of loans they had extended to him.

Sources said some of these individuals had demanded repayment of Rs2.5 million, while others sought Rs5 million. Police and investigators are now closely examining the role of all those who had demanded repayment, while several more individuals are likely to be brought into the investigation.

Inspector Ghulam Nabi Afridi, a member of the investigation team, also revisited the crime scene. However, sources said investigators have so far been unable to recover any significant new evidence from the location.

Meanwhile, Mir Raza’s smartwatch and mobile phone have been retrieved from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

Police are also considering obtaining additional CCTV footage covering the route from the victim’s residence to the crime scene in an effort to trace his movements.

According to police sources, the investigation is being conducted from multiple possible angles in an attempt to identify and apprehend those responsible for the murder.

Mir Raza had left his home at 4:09 a.m. on July 28 in an online taxi and subsequently went missing.

Two days later, his bullet-riddled body was found in a severely decomposed condition outside a guesthouse in Gulistan-e-Johar.

Adding to the mystery, all of Mir Raza’s social media accounts were reportedly deactivated under unexplained circumstances one day before his death.