Six individuals have allegedly been taken into custody in separate incidents across multiple districts of Balochistan in recent days and gone missing. Besides these six, a student and two young men were reportedly forcibly disappeared in separate overnight raids in Dera Ghazi Khan and Balochistan’s Jiwani, families and local sources said. This happened even as protestors drawn from families of the missing Baloch continued a dharna for 6,135 days under the aegis of an organisation named Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP).
According to reports, a Baloch student, Zubair Baloch, son of Haji Fareed Laghari, was taken from his home in Dera Ghazi Khan during the early hours of Wednesday. Four individuals were detained and subsequently disappeared allegedly by Pakistani law-enforcement forces between April 9 and 12 in the districts of Kharan, Noshki, and Gwadar.
On April 12, two local traders, identified as Niaz and Riaz, sons of Master Ayaz and residents of Kharan, were allegedly taken into custody by Pakistani forces in the Taalan area and have not been seen since. Earlier, on April 9, Bilal Baloch, a rickshaw driver and son of Abdul Haq, was reportedly detained from his home in Killi Jamaldini, Noshki, and subsequently disappeared, according to The Balochistan Post.
In a separate incident on April 10, Amir Baloch, son of Karim, was allegedly taken into custody in the Kalanch area of Gwadar and has since remained unaccounted for. In a related development, two more cases were reported in Kech district’s Mand tehsil on April 13. According to local sources, Frontier Corps (FC) personnel conducted early morning raids in different areas.
At approximately 3AM, a house in Khalaq Daan was raided, during which 20-year-old Khurshid Murad, a driver and son of Naseer, was reportedly detained and taken to an undisclosed location. Later, at around 4:30 AM, another raid was carried out by FC in Gyab Mand, where 21-year-old Shera, son of Younus, a farmer by profession, was allegedly taken into custody. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Families of the missing individuals have expressed concern over the lack of information regarding their loved ones and have called on authorities to produce them before a court of law if any charges exist.
To express solidarity with thousands of missing Baloch civilians, a protest camp organised by human rights organisation VBMP in Quetta, outside the Press Club, continued for 6,135th consecutive day. The camp continues to draw participation from relatives of missing persons, who are demanding information about the fate and whereabouts of their family members.
Speaking at the camp, VBMP representatives stated that enforced disappearances and alleged extra-judicial killings constitute serious violations of constitutional and human rights. They reiterated their demand that all missing persons be recovered and presented before the courts in accordance with the law.
Human rights organisations have previously raised concerns about the persistence of such cases in Balochistan, urging transparency and due process. Authorities have not publicly commented on the specific incidents reported above.
Meanwhile, it is being said that the abducted Baloch student, Zubair Baloch, son of Haji Fareed Laghari, was taken from his home in Dera Ghazi Khan during the early hours of Wednesday. He is a former chairman of the Baloch Students Council Bahawalpur and an M Phil Political Science student at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur.
Family members said he was taken at around 1:30AM and moved to an undisclosed location, adding that no information has since been provided about his whereabouts. His family expressed concern that he may be held incommunicado and called for his immediate release or disclosure of his location, urging relevant authorities and human rights organisations to intervene.
In a separate incident in Jiwani, located in Gwadar district, two young men were taken from their homes during overnight raids, local sources said. The individuals have been identified as Riaz Sayed, a resident of Koser Bazaar, and Jahanzaib, son of Jameel, from Solan Bazaar.
According to local accounts, both were taken to an unknown location following the raids, and their families have not been able to establish contact with them since. Enforced disappearances involving students and young people from Baloch areas have been repeatedly reported, with families continuing to seek information about their whereabouts and demand due legal process.
