No confirmed report about number of missing persons: Pak Commission

Quetta, June 10 (ANI): The head of a judicial commission looking into the recovery of missing persons, has said no state institution has a confirmed report about the number of missing persons.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said there was a baseless propaganda about the actual figure of missing persons in the country.

"As many as 44 people were recovered during the last three months by the efforts of the commission," the Daily Times quoted Justice Iqbal, as saying.

He regretted that authorities had not been able to compile the complete details of those who were enlisted as missing persons.

Justice Iqbal, however, said according to the commission, the total number of missing persons stood at 460, including 18 from Islamabad, 117 from Punjab, 174 from Sindh 170 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 57 from Balochistan while 12 each from Azad Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He said 42 bodies of missing persons were found in Balochistan.

Justice Iqbal said foreign intelligence agencies are to be blamed for the deteriorating situation in Balochistan.

He said the Balochistan chief minister had sent a list of 945 'missing' persons to the commission, adding that details of even 45 persons on the list were not available.

"We sent the list back to the ministry for correction, but it never came back," he added. (ANI)