KARACHI: The judicial commission probing the Mir Raza case questioned his business partner and childhood friend Ahmed Bharday over his media interviews and asked him to submit a written statement after meeting the deceased’s family, ARY News reported.
Ahmed Bharday appeared before the commission for the second time along with his lawyer Khalid Mumtaz.
During the proceedings, the commission said some of Bharday’s interviews gave the impression that he wanted to say more about the case. The commission asked him to meet Mir Raza’s family, answer their questions and then submit his written statement.
The commission said friends know each other and asked whether financial difficulties faced by the family could ever justify the brutal killing of a child.
Justice Umar Sial said his job was not to identify the accused and described Mir Raza’s family as a graceful family.
The commission told Bharday to speak the truth, saying it was the family’s right to get answers to its questions. The commission also said it understood that Bharday and his friends were not people who carried guns, adding that if mistakes had been made, they should be discussed.
The commission also questioned Bharday over his social media interviews, saying giving such interviews was like “cutting your own feet”. It referred to his statement that he had a lot to say and his remarks praising the judge who accepted his bail plea.
According to the commission, the interviews created an impression that someone had “launched” Bharday to defame the family. It said there was no fight taking place and that the family had the right to ask questions.
The commission said Bharday’s pre-arrest bail and demands for money were among the actions that had raised questions about him.
The commission directed Bharday to first answer the family’s questions in a closed-door meeting before submitting whatever he wanted to say in writing. It also said a large amount of public money was being spent on the commission and that police officials were lying before it.
Mir Raza’s father, Mir Hussain, told the commission that he had said at Jinnah Hospital that Ahmed was like Raza to him.
The commission said it did not want rumours about its proceedings to spread and asked the media to report on the commission without spreading rumours. It gave Bharday an opportunity to submit whatever he wanted to say in a written statement supported by an affidavit.
The commission also directed Mir Raza’s family to speak to Bharday and ask him any questions they wanted.
The commission told Bharday’s lawyer that if he wanted it to deal with him as a court, he should consider whether Bharday’s pre-arrest bail should have been granted in the first place.
Jibran Nasir, counsel for the family, said the family wanted to make it clear that any information Bharday had about the facts of the killing should be provided to the commission.
He said a police officer had stopped Mir Raza’s friends from meeting the family. Mir Raza’s manager Sheri and friends Raziq and Haitham were present at the commission, he added, and sought permission to have them identify the former investigation officer.
The commission directed Jibran Nasir to first submit any questions the family had for senior police officers so they could be included in the questionnaire.
