KARACHI: A forensic examination of Mir Raza Ali’s mobile phone has reconstructed his final hours in minute detail, tracing a trail of late-night calls, a WhatsApp message asking for Rs30 million, vanishing social media accounts and CCTV footage that runs cold at 4:38am.
The new Mir Raza final hours timeline, reported by The Express Tribune on Tuesday night, pieces together the five hours and 14 minutes before he vanished on July 28.
Late on July 27, the calls began. At 11:24pm, his friend Raziq called for 30 seconds. Six minutes later, Mir Raza called Ahmed Bhardey, and they spoke again at 11:39pm. Another Raziq call at 11:43pm lasted two seconds.
At 11:49pm he called his friend Sarim bin Tahir for 168 seconds, then sent him a WhatsApp message asking for Rs30 million, adding that something was going to happen in the morning that he was not prepared for. The timeline does not explain what he meant.
Mir Raza final hours trace calls, a meal and a late-night ride
At about 1:30am, Mir Raza and Raziq ate together at Ghaffar Kabab House. At 2:13am he called Ali Jimani, who called back three minutes later; the calls lasted 42 and 75 seconds. At 2:23am, his business partner Abdullah Bhardey called, and they spoke for 201 seconds.
Then, at about 3am, his social media accounts began to deactivate. His fiancée, Salwa Khan, noticed and tried to reach him on WhatsApp. She got no response until 3:58am.
At 3:57am, Bykea driver Ehsanullah received a ride request from Mir Raza’s number, booked for 4am. Mir Raza kept messaging Ahmed Bhardey on WhatsApp until 4:02am while remaining unresponsive to his fiancée.
At 4:07am the Bykea ride reached Cheese Valley in PECHS. Two minutes later, Salwa told his friend Haitham that all his social media accounts had been deleted; his WhatsApp account went too.
At 4:11am, CCTV from Cheese Valley showed Mir Raza in a vehicle’s front seat. Between 4:20am and 4:22am, Salwa made eight calls to his SIM number and Shahryar, a Wafflix employee, also tried. Neither got a response.
Last sighting at 4:38am; body recovered the next day
At 4:28am, CCTV captured him getting out of a vehicle outside United Charter School in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 3 and walking along Qila-e-Street towards University Road. The trail continued for another 10 minutes.
At 4:38:27am on July 28, he was last seen on CCTV from a rent-a-car office on Hill View Road. His body was recovered on July 29, some distance from where he was last seen.
Questions remain unanswered: what prompted the Rs30 million request, why his accounts vanished within hours, and what happened after the last camera sighting. The records establish the sequence, but the circumstances of his disappearance remain the case’s central mystery.
Why the timeline matters for the Mir Raza case
The reconstruction lands at a sensitive moment. Earlier on Tuesday, a judicial commission report by Sindh High Court Justice Omar Sial found an “epic failure” by police and ruled Mir Raza was murdered, as Feature Pakistan reported. The Sindh cabinet decided the same day to make the report public.
The commission recorded statements from 49 witnesses across 15 hearings, and its report backed the family’s request for a joint investigation team. The new timeline adds forensic texture to that record: it is the first detailed public account of Mir Raza’s movements in the hours before he vanished, and it may shape how the proposed investigation team approaches the case.
Related: Judicial Commission Finds Police’s ‘Epic Failure’ in Mir Raza Case | Sindh Cabinet Makes Mir Raza Report Public
Frequently asked questions
What do Mir Raza’s final hours reveal?
Phone records show late-night calls on July 27, a Rs30 million WhatsApp plea near midnight, a 1:30am meal, a 4am Bykea ride and a CCTV trail ending at 4:38am.
When was Mir Raza last seen?
At 4:38:27am on July 28, on CCTV from a rent-a-car office on Hill View Road in Karachi. His body was recovered the next day, July 29.
What did the judicial commission find in the Mir Raza case?
The commission, headed by Justice Omar Sial, found an “epic failure” by police, ruled out suicide and backed the family’s request for a joint investigation team.
