KARACHI — Police investigating the death of 25-year-old Mir Raza Ali Khan, a former Institute of Business Administration graduate and entrepreneur, are stuck on a missing firearm and a set of forensic gaps that won’t let them close the case, even as the evidence so far leans toward suicide driven by financial collapse.
Raza’s body, with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, was found in thickets near Shahi Qila in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, across from the University of Karachi, two days after he was reported missing from his home in PECHS Block 2.
“As per official letter, team has been updated, and case is now under CIA,” says Mir Raza’s sister#DialoguePakistan #JusticeforMirRaza #Sister #MurderCase #CIA pic.twitter.com/H4Pvv2Guba
— Dialogue Pakistan (@DialoguePak) August 2, 2026
Detectives piecing together his last hours say he came home early in the morning after closing his shop near Bahadurabad Chowrangi. He then went back to his office, picked up a licensed pistol, and returned home again.
Before he left for the final time, investigators say, he left his house keys, car keys, watch, and some cash for his mother — and wiped all the data off his iPhone.
An online cab driver told police that Raza asked him to play his favorite song during the ride, paid double the fare, and got out in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. CCTV footage from the drop-off point shows him walking alone, with no one else visible around him. He later discarded the wiped phone, which a passerby picked up; police eventually traced it when a new SIM card was activated in it, and detained that person to recover the device.
Family members and close associates have told police that Raza was under heavy financial strain, having lost millions of rupees, and was struggling to repay equity investors. One investor said Raza had asked for an additional loan of Rs 30 million to cover his operating losses just before his death — a request that was turned down — and that Raza had told him he’d been having distressing thoughts. His fiancée separately told investigators he’d been consumed by his Bitcoin investments in the days before he vanished.
Still, senior officers say three things are keeping them from calling this a straightforward suicide.
First, the weapon itself is missing. Only the holster was found, hanging from a tree branch nearby — police suspect someone passing by picked up the pistol. Second, gunshot residue swabs taken during the post-mortem came back negative on his hands, though officials note that partial decomposition of the body may have degraded any chemical traces that were there. Third, investigators still can’t explain why Raza traveled all the way from PECHS to that particular stretch of land near Shahi Qila, of all places, to end his life.
“While the victim’s movements and financial troubles lean heavily toward self-harm, the absence of the weapon and the lack of gunshot residue leave critical gaps,” a senior Karachi police official said. “We are analyzing Call Detail Records and high-resolution CCTV to achieve definitive results swiftly.”
Police say a full review of call records, background checks on the family, and detailed medical evaluations are underway under the direct oversight of senior supervisory officers, with an official finding expected in the coming days.
