Disturbing disappearances: No leads on missing railway officials

Inability to retrieve them prompts protest by railways employees.

RAWALPINDI:

Four days into their disappearance, the police are unable to track down missing employees of the Pakistan Railways Employees (PREM) Union, leading to unrest among the members.

The general secretary of Pakistan Railways Employees (PREM) Union along with three other employees allegedly went missing from Khushab on December 17. The union members are now threatening to announce a strike in the face of the police’s incapability. A protest camp has also been set up outside Rawalpindi Railway Station for this purpose, with other unions joining in.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Bashir Butt, a member of the union, said their colleagues including General Secretary Ishtiaq Assi, Haji Rauf, Uzairul Hassan and Muhammad Arif Jan went to Khushab to attend a funeral, but went missing on their way back. “They did not have enmities or threats,” said Butt, adding that they have also registered an FIR at Matha Towana Police Station in Khushab.

Waqas Ahmad Assi, son of Ishtiaq, reiterated that his father was not being threatened. “If he was kidnapped for ransom, the kidnapers would have contacted us,” he said. Moreover, his father and the other missing employees’ phones are continuously not responding, he informed.

The protesting employees have accused the government of failing to protect its people, adding that if these persons are not recovered, a nationwide strike by employees would follow. They also staged a protest, led by Butt and other unions’ representatives on Railway Road, blocking it for 30 minutes. Butt announced that a delegation of the union also met Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who assured the employees that their colleagues would be recovered in a safe and timely manner.

On the other hand, the police are still grabbing in the dark over the whereabouts of the allegedly missing persons. A police official requesting anonymity divulged that a team has been constituted to investigate the issue.  So far, the team is clueless, he said, but has gotten hold of these persons’ mobile data and is analysing other angles. The missing official’s family members will also be interrogated. “However, for the time being we don’t have any information to share with media,” he said, adding that the police are putting in their best efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2013.