Journalist Aziz Memon ‘died from suffocation’, says report

Aziz Memon, a journalist associated with a Sindhi channel and newspaper who was found murdered in Naushehro Feroze last month, died from suffocation, according to a post-mortem examination report released by the authorities on Friday.

Memon's body was found in a river on February 16, with a wire wrapped around his neck. The local reporter had earlier accused the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as well as Naushehro Feroze police of threatening him over his unflattering reporting of PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's widely-publicised 'train march' in 2019.

Shortly after the news of the journalist's murder broke, journalists in Islamabad protested against his killing and asked the chief justice to look into the matter.

Separately, the government of Sindh set up a joint investigation team (JIT) under Additional Inspector-General of Police (AIG) for Hyderabad Region Dr Waliullah Dal to probe Memon's murder, a notification from the provincial home department issued on Friday confirmed.

Approved by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the nine-member JIT would submit a report on their findings in 15 days, the notification added. The JIT consists of officers from the police, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Special Branch.

In a related development, Murtaza Wahab, spokesman for the Sindh chief minister, said on Friday that the provincial government has formed a joint investigation team to investigate Memon’s death.

As requested by the family of murdered journalist Aziz Memon, JIT has been constituted by #SindhGovt. We believe in ensuring that justice is always done pic.twitter.com/zlK9g7llL3

— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) March 6, 2020