Medical board exhumes Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar’s body for autopsy

HYDERABAD: A special medical board exhumed the body of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, who was killed in a staged police encounter in Mirpurkhas on September 19 after his arrest on blasphemy charges, in the village of Janiro, Umerkot, on Tuesday.

The medical board had been formed by a judicial magistrate on Monday to carry out the exhumation of the body to confirm if Dr Kunbhar was subjected to torture in police custody and if his body was burnt.

Strict police security arrangements were made on the occasion, and according to the head of the medical board, Dr Waseem Khan, 13 samples from different parts of the body have been obtained for a postmortem examination.

The other members of the board are AMS (medico legal) of Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) Hyderabad, Dr Tahir Qureshi; Prof Dr Wahid Nahyoon, forensic expert of LUMHS and Dr Rahil Khan, pathologist.

At the time of the exhumation of the body, which was carried out under the supervision of Judicial Magistrate Aamir Rajput, a heavy contingent of police, including SSP Uzair Memon, was present, as was Muhammad Ibrahim Kunbhar, a relative of the plaintiff in the case.

After the postmortem, Hyderabad Police Surgeon Dr Waseem Khan, head of the special medical board, told the media that the necessary process of the postmortem examination had been completed.

He said expert doctors have been included in the medical board, they have obtained 13 samples from the deceased’s body, out of which 10 samples will go to the chemical lab and three will go to the DNA laboratory. Afterwards, when the reports come in, a meeting of the medical board will be held.

Dr Waseem Khan said the medical board would prepare the postmortem report and it will take one month to complete the task. The exhumation was be carried out in connection with a case (No 44/24) registered under sections 296, 296, 341, 114, 336B, 147, 148 and 149, read with Section 19917 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, at Umerkot Taluka police station.

The DG health had written to the police surgeon for the exhumation of the body on October 3. Investigating officer DSP Aslam Jagirani said the victim’s family had alleged in the FIR that Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar was tortured to death in police custody and that his body was later set on fire.