KARACHI: While investigators said they have so far found no evidence to suggest that the death of five members of a family in an Ahsanabad apartment was a homicide, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Alam Odho has decided to establish a high-powered body to investigate the incident that has sent shock waves through the city.
The couple, identified as Dr Umer, 45, and Mehwish, 35, their daughter Zainab, 10, and two other minor daughters were found dead on Sunday inside a room of the flat located on the seventh floor of the building, officials said, adding that the bodies were recovered after the door, which was locked from the inside, was broken open.
On Monday, IGP Odho asked the city police chief to form a committee and make highly trained investigating officers and forensic experts its part.
“All facts of the incident should be brought to light with the help of modern investigative and technical means,” he said, adding: “No aspect should be overlooked during the investigation process and the probe should be taken to its logical conclusion on the basis of evidence.”
City police chief says investigations underway but no evidence of homicide found so far
Karachi police chief Azad Khan told Dawn that the exact cause of death had not yet been ascertained.
“So far, no evidence had emerged to suggest that it was a homicide. It had been verified that the doctor was facing acute financial problems and had also been diagnosed with kidney cancer. He had left his job at a private hospital. However, no final conclusion could be drawn at this stage,” he said.
As the corpses were shifted to the Edhi morgue, an Edhi Foundation spokesperson said that the bodies were handed over to their relatives late on Monday evening.
The city police chief said that the deceased doctor’s brother and father-in-law had arrived in the city from Punjab in the evening. He said investigators would take the relatives to the spot and conduct a thorough search in their presence.
He said that an FIR had not been registered yet.
East SSP Investigation Mohammed Usman Sadozai told Dawn: “We are investigating the case from every possible angle.”
SITE Superhighway Industrial Area SHO Mohammed Nawaz said that neighbours had informed the police that the doctor had been a victim of street crime.
The neighbours also told the police about tough financial conditions the family was undergoing.
The SHO said not a single penny was found in the flat, while the kitchen and refrigerator were also empty.
He said after his diagnosis, the doctor had reportedly stopped going to the hospital where he worked since August without any intimation.
The hospital administration told the police that they tried to persuade him not to quit as they would arrange for his treatment but he left the job.
He formally resigned from the hospital on Sept 15, saying that he was going to Punjab for his treatment.
Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2026.
