Chinese national mysteriously found dead in Karachi

Karachi: The body of a 53-year-old Chinese national, identified as Li Wenzhang, was mysteriously found in a private company’s compound at Port Qasim in the city, police said.

The Chinese national was allegedly murdered and his body was “hanged” in a room at Port Qasim on the outskirts of Karachi, the police surgeon who performed the autopsy and other officials said. The deceased was identified as Li Wenzhang, 53. His body was found inside a power station at the Port Muhammad Bin Qasim.

The port officials believed that he had died by suicide. They moved the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) to obtain a death certificate.

JPMC Additional Police Surgeon (APS) Dr Sumaiyya Syed stated that the port officials strongly believed that it was a death by suicide but medicolegal officials thought otherwise.

“The port officials were insisting not to perform postmortem, but medico-legal section refused to issue a certificate and to declare it a death by suicide,” the APS observed. “The postmortem has been completed and the cause of the death has been reserved,” she added.

East Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police Muqadas Haider assured that the police was investigating the incident as a murder and not as a suicide. However, he maintained that the motive of the “murder” could not be ascertained immediately.

The police have already launched an investigation and have been recording statements of Wenzhang’s colleagues. Bin Qasim Police’s Station House Officer (SHO) Imran Afridi contended that a Crime Scene Unit arrived at Port Qasim to collect the evidence.

The police officials shared with the police surgeon a video that shows the body hanged by the door of a room, she added. The video shows Wenzhang propped against a room door with his feet touching the ground. A piece of cloth is wrapped around his neck and the top part of the door, holding him straight.

The Chinese national was working on a power project in Karachi for almost five years, the police report mentioned.

His colleagues told the police that he was worried about not going to his home in China amid the Coronavirus pandemic. He had returned to work from China after seeing his family six months ago.

In August this year, there was a suicide attack on a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals in the Pakistani port city, Gwadar.

The Chinese Embassy had then called upon Pakistan to provide proper treatment to the injured, a full investigation into the attack and severe punishment to the perpetrators.