Baloch Protesters Seize Bodies from Quetta Morgue

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), an organisation led by the controversial Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch, has come under the radar of Pakistani security agencies after its protesters took away a number of corpses from the Civil Hospital in Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta that are believed to be of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants who had attacked the Jaffar Express passenger train in Bolan, recently.

In a protest staged outside the Civil Hospital in Quetta by the BYC, family members of missing persons were demanding authorities to allow them to identify the dead bodies. Hospital authorities said that the protesters were able to force their way into the morgue and took away at least five corpses.

Even though it is not yet clear if the relatives of the missing persons had identified the bodies of their loved ones before taking them, the local authorities confirmed that they were those of the attackers of the Jaffar Express passenger train and belonged to the proscribed BLA militant group.

"Corpses that were taken away were the unidentified bodies of terrorists who were killed in the military operation following the attack on the Jaffar Express," said one of the provincial government officials.

The reports were also confirmed by the BYC activists, who said that some protesters had taken away a number of bodies from the hospital's morgue, claiming that families of the missing persons had gathered at the hospital to identify their loved ones.

"We had been trying to gain access to the morgue for two days to satisfy the missing persons family members that the bodies kept there were not of their loved ones," said one BYC member. 

Later on, police authorities carried out raids in various parts of Quetta, recovering at least three corpses.

As per sources, raids were carried out in Sariab Road and Secretariat Chowk and multiple people have also been taken into custody. Sources said that the role of BYC and its head Mahrang Baloch, who have been accused of aligning with the BLA, is being probed for using the issue of missing persons in Balochistan to target the country's military establishment and government policies. 

—IANS