A police inquiry committee has declared the death of senior journalist Khawar Hussain Bajwa a suicide, ruling out foul play after a week-long investigation.
The three-member committee, led by Additional Inspector General (Counter-Terrorism Department) Azad Khan with DIG Irfan Baloch and SSP Abid Baloch as members, submitted a 30-page report to Sindh Inspector General Ghulam Nabi Memon on Friday.
Hussain, associated with a private news channel, was found dead in his car last week outside a restaurant on Hyderabad Road, Sanghar. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators said they reviewed CCTV footage, call data records, medical and forensic reports, and interviewed witnesses before reaching their conclusion. Footage showed Hussain entering and leaving a local restaurant twice before returning to his vehicle, where he stayed for nearly two hours. No one was seen approaching his car during that period.
The report stated that the bullet was fired from Hussain’s licensed 9mm pistol, which was recovered from his right hand. Post-mortem findings at Civil Hospital Sanghar and a re-examination at Liaquat University Hospital confirmed close-range firing, with muzzle marks and soot deposits around the wound. “These findings exclude homicide or accidental fire as a cause of death,” the report noted.
The committee concluded that Hussain died between 9:58 pm and 10:35 pm. One of his two mobile phones was recovered, while the other remains missing.
Investigators added that determining the reasons behind the suicide would require family input. Some colleagues privately suggested domestic tensions, but the committee did not probe further out of respect for the family’s grief.
Hussain had worked in Karachi for nearly a decade. His sudden death has left colleagues and friends deeply shaken.