Baloch missing persons: Mutilated bodies of political workers found

Two more mutilated bodies of Baloch political workers found in Gwadar district.

QUETTA: Two more mutilated bodies of Baloch political workers have been found in Gwadar district, sparking protests by residents against the killings of political opponents.

The bodies found on Wednesday were dumped near the coastal town of Ormara. In protest, residents observed a complete shutter-down strike in Turbat, Gwadar, Pasni and some other areas.

One of the deceased, identified as Mehboob Wadela of Baloch National Movement (BNM), disappeared from Karachi in April last year. The other body was identified as Rehman Arif’s, who was a member of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) and was abducted four months ago from Gwadar.

Hospital sources said the bodies bore bullet wounds and marks of torture. A Levies official said that bodies were spotted by passers-by who informed the Levies Thana in Ormara. Officials took the bodies to a nearby state-run hospital for autopsy.

The families of Wadela and Arif had held several news conferences and demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta, and suspected security forces and agencies of involvement.

As news spread that more bodies had been recovered, the BNM, the BRP and the Baloch Students Organisation-Azad called for a shutter-down strike. Most shops and trade centres in the Makran division were closed for the day.

According to NGO Voice For Baloch Missing Persons (VFBMP), as many as 101 bullet-riddled bodies have been found in the past seven months. All the bodies have been traced to Baloch missing persons or political opponents.

VFMBP says that as many as 13,000 people are listed as missing from Balochistan alone, but the organisation has complete data of only 1,100 missing persons.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.