HYDERABAD: Death of Sindhi poet Dr Akash Ansari reportedly in a fire in his house on Feb 15 turned out to be a cold blooded murder committed by his adopted son, Latif.

The suspect had confessed to killing him to take revenge for the pent-up hatred against his father for all the ‘derogatory remarks’ and ‘humiliation’ he had suffered at his hands since the day he had been adopted, says Hyderabad SSP.

SSP Dr Farrukh Ali disclosed at a crowded press conference in his office on Monday that Shah Latif, the adopted son, had confessed to the murder and police had recovered the weapon used in the offence.

He said that police investigators concluded on the basis of evidence found at the crime scene and preliminary post mortem report that it was a murder.

He disclosed that Ansari’s body was being moved to Badin on Feb 15 without post mortem when he persuaded the family to have the autopsy carried out first.

He said that doctors had said multiple marks of injuries had been inflicted on the poet’s body through some sharp-edged object. The probe revealed the victim had died first and then his body was torched, a fact corroborated later by the suspect, he said.

He said that Latif left the house after killing his father at around 1am and stayed with some acquaintance (who was in custody). He returned to the house to destroy the evidence by torching the body, he said, adding Latif was the only prime suspect in the case while his driver had helped police in linking the dots.

It was the driver, he said, who disclosed that Latif did not enter the burning room while the suspect had claimed he had rushed in to rescue his father.

DNA examination of evidence

The SSP said that police recovered a bottle, which contained inflammable material used in torching the body and a knife. “We are having the knife go through DNA testing as it must have fingerprints of the suspect,” he said.

He said the suspect threw the knife onto garbage pile and torched the body in the morning, then informed Rescue 1122. “There are marks of injuries on Latif’s face that are suggestive of resistance offered by the late poet,” he said, adding Latif had attributed his injuries to an accident.

Motive behind the murder

About the motive behind the murder, the SSP quoted Latif as saying “being adopted son he was humiliated and disgraced and even called ‘bastard’. Latif claimed he used to be told he is an illegitimate child. According to him when he was nine-years of age he was thrown onto a heap of garbage and told ‘this is the place you belong to’”.

He said that Latif, who also used drugs, was awaiting opportunity to take his revenge.

Preliminary autopsy report

A provisional post mortem report revealed that Ansari was subjected to multiple wounds of grievous nature, which had damaged his lungs, trachea and ribs before his body was torched.

The report said the [final] opinion for cause of death had been reserved till chemical and histopathological examination of the findings of viscera was done. “A hairline fracture was noted in the front teeth of the victim. There were several stab wounds on different parts of his body. There were 11 spots of wounds on the body, which were all ante-mortem in nature,” said the report.

MLO Dr Imran Khawaja explained that ante-mortem injuries meant that the deceased had suffered the injuries when he was alive and the burn wounds were ‘post-mortem’ in nature.

FIR lodged against late poet’s son

Bhitai Nagar police have registered an FIR under Sections 302, 201 PPC and Anti-Terrorism Act against the prime suspect, Shah Latif, for the murder of Dr Ansari.

Ibrahim Jan Ansari, a relative of the deceased, lodged the FIR and said that Ansari’s adopted son fell into drugs as he grew up. Latif had once stolen money from Ansari’s house for which a case under Sections 380, 382 PCP had been lodged with Bhitai Nagar police, he said.

He said that Latif had issued threats of dire consequences to Ansari before him and Dr Ilmuddin Ansari when the victim was visiting his native village. When he rushed to the hospital that day he noticed marks of wounds inflicted by some sharp object on Ansari’s body, he said.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2025