25-year-old Wafflix owner was abducted from PECHS; police probe suspected torture
Mir Raza Ali, owner of the popular dessert shop Wafflix, whose body was found in Gulistan-e-Jauhar after he was allegedly kidnapped from PECHS. SCREENGRAB/ Youtube
A 25-year-old man who was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi’s PECHS Society was found dead in the bushes near a wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Wednesday, with police suspecting that he was tortured before being shot dead.
The victim, identified as Mir Raza Ali, son of Mir Hassan Ali, was a resident of PECHS Block 2 and owned waffle dessert chain “Wafflix” near Bahadurabad Chowrangi. His body was recovered from the bushes near Shadi Qila wedding hall in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 1 and was taken to Jinnah hospital for post-mortem examination.
According to police, the body appeared to be one to two days old and had signs of burns in some areas, making identification difficult. The victim was identified by his father through his clothes. Police said a mark on the victim’s back was also found, while the exact cause of death would be determined after the post-mortem report.
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Station House Officer Kamran Qureshi said initial findings suggested that the victim was tortured before being shot. He added that police were collecting CCTV footage from cameras installed around the wedding hall to trace the suspects involved in the kidnapping and murder.
A kidnapping case was registered at Ferozabad Police Station on Tuesday on the complaint of the victim’s father.
According to the first information report, on the night between July 27 and 28, Raza returned home from his shop in his car and informed his mother at around 4am that he would step outside his house for 10 minutes. He did not return.
His mother later called his mobile phone, but it was switched off. The family searched for him and also contacted Madadgar 15 before registering a kidnapping case against unidentified suspects at the police station. Police are continuing their investigation.
Condemnations and condolences poured in on social media from those who knew the young entrepreneur as the authorities were criticised for the security situation of the city.
