Left to rot: Super Highway popular body dumping ground, claim sources

More than 50 unidentified bodies were found in 2013.

KARACHI: More than 50 unidentified dead bodies with gunshot and torture wounds were found from the Karachi Super Highway this year, according to data obtained from rescue services. However, police and security officials have no clue as to why this area is such a popular dumping ground for bodies.

Sources say that some of the bodies found from the area belonged to political activists and insurgents but most of them remained unidentified and have been buried at the Edhi graveyard.



According to rescue officials, the majority of unidentified tortured bodies were found from Gadap Town while Orangi Town had the second highest figure with 15 unidentified tortured bodies.

Five days ago, three bodies were recovered from the Super Highway within the limits of Gadap Police Station. The victims were later identified as Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists Javed, Noman and Saleem. According to MQM sources, they were abducted by security agencies during raids in Qasba Colony. However, security authorities have denied any link in extrajudicial killings of the activists. According to the rescue sources, Javed was wanted in various cases of target killings and was arrested by Rangers in June. He was handed over to the Pirabad police station but was later released.

When contacted SP Gadap Town Rahib Khan Tunio said that he was unaware of any motive behind the killings as the investigation department of police is separate from its operational department. He added that the media often exaggerates the number of bodies found in his area.

Meanwhile, SHO Gadap Town Imtiaz Niazi cited sparse population and limited movement of people in the area as one of the main reasons behind the corpse dumping. "There are huge vacant spaces on both sides of the highway," he pointed out. "This makes it easy for someone to dump a body here without being noticed."

He claimed that with only one police mobile present in the police station, it is not possible for them to patrol an area of almost 60km in length. "We have only one van at the station," he said. "How can we be expected to closely monitor the whole area round the clock?"

When asked about the identity of the victims, he said that many of them were killed in the Lyari gang war by rival groups and then dumped on the highway.

However, a number of sources claim that some of the bodies belonged to Baloch insurgents. "In some cases, a tag with the victim's name and address was also found on the body," said one of the sources.

Home Department additional chief secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah was unaware about the culprits behind the dumpings but blamed police officials for not performing their duties properly. Shah said that it is a heinous crime to kill someone and dump his body. "It is the responsibility of police officials to find out who is behind these crimes."

Shah said that the Balochistan Home Department secretary held a meeting with Sindh home ministry officials in which it was agreed that cooperation will be increased between the two departments to figure out who is involved in dumping the bodies of Baloch missing persons in different parts of the Sindh province, especially outskirts of Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2013.