Karachi: IGP forms high-powered committee on Ahsanabad family deaths, no FIR yet

A doctor, his wife and their three children were found dead in a seventh floor flat in Ahsanabad, Karachi, on Sunday. Police said the bodies had been there for several days.

SSP East Zubair Nazir Sheikh said a neighbour called the Madadgar 15 helpline after a strong smell from the flat. Officers found all five in one room. The door was locked from the inside and the key was on the man. The bodies were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Update, Tuesday: a high-powered investigation committee

Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho has constituted a high-powered committee of trained investigating officers and forensic experts to establish what happened. His instruction was that all facts of the incident be brought to light with modern investigative and technical means. No deadline was set.

The police chief also said that no evidence has emerged to suggest homicide.

The five have now been named: Dr Umer, 45, his wife Mehwish, 35, and their three daughters, the eldest of whom was 10. The bodies were moved to the Edhi morgue on Monday evening.

No FIR has been registered. The exact cause of death has still not been determined, and the chemical examination remains the step that decides it.

Investigators have put more of the family's circumstances on the record: the doctor had been diagnosed with kidney cancer, had recently left his hospital job, and the flat had no money in it, with an empty kitchen and refrigerator. Neighbours said he had earlier been the victim of a street crime.

That is background the police have stated, not a finding.

Sunday's postmortem ruled out torture and sharp weapon injuries

Police Surgeon Dr Samia said the postmortem examinations found no signs of torture and no injuries from a sharp-edged weapon on any of the five bodies.

That narrows the possibilities. It does not establish a cause of death. Samples were taken from different parts of the bodies and sent for chemical examination, and Dr Samia said the final cause of death will only be determined once that report is in. Chemical examiner reports in Karachi typically take several days and sometimes longer.

The bodies are to be handed over to the family. The dead man's brother, Abu Bakr, and his father-in-law were travelling from Punjab to Karachi to receive them.

What police have said, and what they have not

The cause of death has not been established. The SSP said investigators are looking at more than one possibility and that "the actual cause of death will only be determined after the postmortem". The Sindh Inspector General has ordered an investigation on merit and evidence.

Police said no mobile phone was found in the flat. They said the man was a doctor and the household's only earner, that he had resigned from his job on 13 September after a cancer diagnosis, and that his salary had been taken in a robbery. A neighbour said the family had been in financial difficulty since moving into the flat in February 2024, and that a clinic the doctor opened in the area did not work out. Neighbours told police his wife had tried to sell the family's oven in the days before.

None of that establishes what happened. Until the chemical examination is complete, it is background the police have put on the record, not a finding.

Ahsanabad

Ahsanabad is a residential scheme off the Superhighway in Karachi's East district, a mix of flats and small houses occupied largely by salaried families. The block where the family lived is a mid rise apartment building.

What happens next

The chemical examiner's report is now the step that matters. The police have not registered a case under any specific section, pending the medical findings.

We will update this story when the chemical examination result is announced. We are not publishing details that have not been established by police or a medical report.

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This story covers a death where the cause has not been determined. If you or someone you know is struggling, speaking to a doctor or a trusted person is a place to start. Public hospitals in Karachi, including Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Civil Hospital, run psychiatry outpatient departments.