Aziz Memon, a journalist associated with a local Sindhi channel and newspaper who was found murdered last month in Naushahro Feroze, died of suffocation, according to a post-mortem examination report released by authorities on Friday.
Memon’s body was recovered from a river on February 16, with a cable wrapped around his neck. The local reporter had earlier accused the PPP, as well as Naushahro Feroze police, of threatening him for unflattering reporting of party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s widely-publicised ‘train march’ in 2019.
Shortly after news of the journalist’s murder broke, journalists in Islamabad had protested against his killing and asked the chief justice to look into the matter.
Separately, the government of Sindh also set up a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe Memon’s murder, a notification from the provincial home department issued Friday confirmed. According to a notification, almost three weeks after Aziz was found dead, the JIT will be bound to submit its findings within 15 days. It can ask for assistance from member(s) of any agency and department.
The nine-member JIT will be headed by the additional inspector general of police of Hyderabad Range. The team will also include senior superintendents of police of districts Naushahro Feroze and Shaheed Benazirabad as well as a representative of the Intelligence Bureau, who is not below the rank of deputy director. A representative of the Special Branch will also be a part of the JIT.
Dean of Basic Medical Sciences, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro, Dr Ikramuddin Ujjan, Chairman of Department of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, LUMHS, Jamshoro Muhammad Akbar Qazi, Senior Research Officer of International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Shakeel Ahmed and police surgeon in Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad, Dr Bansidhar will also be part of the JIT.
The JIT, constituted on the recommendations of Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, has been tasked with exposing the “real motives and culprits involved in such heinous act (sic) […] and the prayer of the brother of the deceased is addressed on merit in the larger interest of all stakeholders”.
Earlier, a day after the journalist was found dead, Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry had also urged the top judge to take notice of Memon’s mysterious death.
Chaudhry had noted in particular that the slain journalist had made allegations against the ruling party in Sindh prior to his death, and suggested that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should investigate the murder.
Shah, the chief minister, had condemned Memon’s death, saying authorities would soon catch his killers.
Memon was carrying out his duties independently, Shah had stated, claiming that a video of the slain journalist – in which he referred to threats to his life – was an “old” one.
Aziz, who was associated with Sindhi TV channel KTN News and Sindhi-language daily Kawish, was found dead in an irrigation waterway in Naushahro Feroze on February 16. He was allegedly strangled to death near Mehrabpur town of Naushahro Feroze district.
