KARACHI: The chief minister of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has directed authorities to investigate the death of local reporter Khawar Hussain, whose body was recovered from a car in the southern city of Sanghar on Saturday night.
Hussain’s body was recovered from his hometown of Sanghar outside a local restaurant on Hyderabad Road on Saturday night, according to police officials. The journalist sustained a gunshot wound to his head.
Faisal Bashir Memon, a deputy inspector general of police, told Arab News that the pistol clutched in Hussain's hand at the time of his death belongs to the journalist, who had been keeping it for personal safety.
"He parked his car and went to the restroom twice. According to the CCTV footage, he was alone. Khawar asked the hotel manager about the restroom, then returned to his car and sat inside. He stepped out of the car again and asked the watchman about the restroom. He went towards the restroom once more and then came back and sat in the car again," Memon told Arab News.
"The CCTV camera was installed on the other side of the driver’s seat, and no one else was seen in the footage. The hotel manager later told the watchman to check if Khawar wanted to order something as he had been sitting [inside his car there] for quite a while. When the watchman went to the car, Khawar’s body was found inside with a gunshot wound."
The investigators are awaiting the post-mortem report, according to DIG Memon. The journalist's call data record (CDR) is being obtained, while the bullet shell found inside the vehicle will undergo a forensic examination.
"Based on this technical evidence, a conclusion will be drawn," he said. "At this stage, we are investigating from both perspectives — murder as well as suicide."
Hussain was a Karachi-based correspondent for Dawn News. News of his death drew condemnations from the Karachi Press Club and senior members of the Sindh government.
“Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the unnatural death of senior journalist Khawar Hussain in Sanghar,” a statement from Shah’s spokesperson said on Saturday.
“The chief minister has sought a report from the inspector general of police.”
He said Shah had directed the IG to assign the investigation into Hussain’s mysterious death to the province’s “best police officer.”
“The real cause of death must be determined through investigation,” Shah was quoted as saying by his spokesperson.
Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed grief over Hussain’s death. Zardari, whose PPP rules Sindh, directed the provincial government to conduct a transparent inquiry into the journalist’s death.
“Journalist Khawar Hussain was a dutiful and responsible professional,” Zardari said as per a statement released by his official residence, Bilawal House. “His sudden demise is deeply saddening.”
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori also expressed grief over Hussain’s death, saying that authorities had been tasked to carry out a probe into the incident.
“Khawar Hussain’s murder is a great tragedy for journalism and society,” he added.
Karachi Press Club President Fazil Jamili, Secretary Sohail Afzal Khan, and the governing body described the news of Hussain’s passing as a “highly tragic incident,” saying it has left the entire journalist community in “shock and grief.”
“They demanded that the Sindh government conduct an impartial investigation to uncover the real causes and underlying motives behind his death, and take strict action against those responsible,” the statement said.
As per a report released by the Pakistan-based media and development sector watchdog Freedom Network last year, 184 incidents of violence against journalists took place in Sindh between 2018 and 2023. These included the killings of 10 journalists in the province.
