Five Zikri pilgrims die of dehydration, starvation near Gwadar

Police say the pilgrims set out on foot six days ago and were missing since then

QUETTA: Police found on Tuesday the bodies of five Zikri pilgrims who had gone missing about a week ago in Pasni area of Gwadar district in Balochistan.

"At least five people belonging to Zikri sect set out from their homes for pilgrimage in Koh-e-Murad area of Turbat on foot six days ago and have been missing since then," SHO Gwadar Chakar Baloch told The Express Tribune.

“The bodies were found in Kapar area of Pasni,” Baloch said. "The cause of death was starvation and dehydration."

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The deceased were taken to Pasni Hospital for identification where they were identified as Abdul Hameed, Ibrahim, Nisar Ahmed, Sahgir and Dili, all residents of Pasni. The bodies were handed over to deceased relatives for burial after medico-legal formalities.

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Zikri Mahdavis, or Zikris, are an offshoot of the Mahdavi movement found mostly in the said region and eastern Iran. Zikri derives from the Arabic word dhikr, meaning remembrance, devotion and invocation.