The Sindh government Saturday removed Additional Inspector General (AIG) Hyderabad Dr Waliullah Dal as head of a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the alleged murder of journalist Aziz Memon.
According to a notification, AIG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon will now head the probe body.
The removal came a day after the formation of the nine-member JIT to investigate the case.
Family and journalist bodies had questioned the impartiality of the JIT after the police officer who declared the reported murder of the journalist natural occurrence had been appointed head of the probe body.
An autopsy report of Aziz Memon had revealed that Memon died as a result of asphyxiation.
Memon, a journalist associated with a regional Sindhi channel and newspaper, was found murdered last month in Naushehro Feroze.
Memon’s body was recovered from a river on February 16 with a wire wrapped around his neck. The reporter had earlier accused the regional Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership as well as Naushehro Feroze police of threatening him for unflattering reporting of party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s ‘train march’ in 2019.
The autopsy report came a day after the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior was informed that Sindhi journalist Aziz Memon had died a natural death as the medical report did not confirm any violence or poisoning.
Hyderabad Additional Inspector General Police Dr Waliullah Dal and other police officers had briefed the committee, chaired by Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, that journalist Aziz Memon was the patient of hypertension, sugar and his medical report did not confirm any murder.
