Missing Baloch journalist found dead in Karachi

Baloch had gone missing in a restive part of the city of Karachi five months ago.

KARACHI: A body found dumped on the outskirts of Karachi was on Thursday identified as that of a journalist who had gone missing from Lyari five months ago.

Two bodies were found on Tuesday in the west of the city, and a piece of paper found on one suggested that he was missing journalist Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch, who was associated with the Baloch Urdu-language daily Tawar.

The body, however, bore so many torture marks that his relatives needed several trips to the mortuary before they could confirm its identity.

"His face was not recognisable but his arms and feet made us recognise his body," said Saeeda Sarbazi, Razzaq's sister.

Razzaq, 42, was an ethnic Baloch and worked as a subeditor at the Daily Tawar (Voice). He had gone missing in late March after finishing his day's duties.

Sindh provincial information minister Sharjeel Memon said that authorities were "trying to collect information" on the case.

Human rights groups say hundreds have been detained, killed or gone missing as government forces try to crush the uprising by Baloch groups.

Earlier this year, the media campaign group Reporters Without Borders wrote to the Pakistani government urging it to end "abuses" by state intelligence agencies accused of abducting and killing journalists.