Medical Board conducts exhumation of Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar's body

UMERKOT: A medical board headed by the chief police surgeon completed exhumation of Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar’s body on Tuesday.

Chief police surgeon Dr Wasim after autopsy said, “The body samples will be sent for laboratory test, and report will be handed over to concerned authorities within one month.”

A judicial magistrate on Monday had ordered a special medical board to carry out exhumation of Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar to confirm if he was subjected to torture in police custody and burnt.

Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar, a senior medical officer accused of blasphemy, was allegedly killed in a staged police encounter in Mirpur Khas on September 19, after his arrest by Umerkot police on September 18, 2024, from Karachi.

Following the direction of Sindh Police chief, Ghulam Nabi Memon, an enquiry committee had completed the investigation of Umerkot incident and exposed the misconduct of Sindh police.

The inquiry report, issued after intense public pressure, revealed severe violations of law by police officials from Umerkot and Mirpur Khas.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered authorities to place the names of all accused on Exit Control List (ECL) in blasphemy accused, Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar’s death who was killed in a suspected fake police encounter in Umarkot.

The Sindh High Court Mir Pur Khas bench announce the verdict on the civil society’s plea.

Earlier, a case was registered against 45 individuals including the high-ranking police officials, including DIG Javed Jaskani, SSP Asad Chaudhry, SSP Asif Raza Baloch, SHO Sindhri and CIA team officials.

The inquiry committee, tasked with investigating the incident, confirmed that the police encounter was fabricated to give legal cover to an extrajudicial killing.