Missing persons: Body of missing tribal elder found in Mastung

Local tribal elder had been listed as missing since Dec 19 last year.

QUETTA:

Bullet-riddled remains of missing tribal elder Takri Raheem Dad were discovered in Mastung on Wednesday.

Levies Force personnel, upon receiving a tip-off, recovered the body from the Dasht area of Mastung and shifted it to Quetta for autopsy. “The victim was shot in head and his body was kept in morgue,” hospital sources said.

Relatives identified him as local tribal elder Takri Raheem Dad, who was listed as missing on December 19, 2011 along with his nephew Zinuddin. The latter was released after 19 days. According to the family, they were travelling from Bolan to Quetta when a group of armed men intercepted them and whisked them away.  “The government functionaries are behind these abductions and killings. Political activists are still being picked up and subjected to enforced disappearances,” alleged Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VFBM), an organisation striving for the safe recovery of missing persons.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan Home Department expressed its disappointment over the performance of the Frontier Corps (FC) and police in maintaining law and order in the province. Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai sent a formal letter to the FC and police after he found both absent from duty during a visit to Quetta.

“The home department directed the FC and police to improve their performance, which is not up to the mark, and ensure the protection of lives and property of the common people,” an official of Home Department said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani during a surprise visit to Quetta suspended ten police personnel over lax professional conduct and dereliction of duty.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2012.