KARACHI, Oct 23: A central leader of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Salim Baloch, who had been picked up by government agencies last December, was released here on Monday night, his family and the party confirmed on Tuesday.
At first, the JWP leader was arrested on March 10, 2006 by secret agencies and his whereabouts could not be known until he was freed along with three other colleagues on Dec 14, 2006.
But he was re-arrested on Dec 31 after holding a press conference at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) office where he briefed newsmen about maltreatment that had been meted out to him by the agencies. He was picked up from Lyari by plainclothes policemen in the early hours of Dec 31.
JWP leader Shehzada Zafar Jan confirmed the release of Mr Salim Baloch, saying that he had been brutally tortured. He said that Mr Baloch has been diagnosed with tuberculosis during his medical examination and doctors have advised him complete rest.“Physically Salim has become weak and his eyesight has become very weak. He is also suffering from a knee ailment,” Zafar Jan said, adding that the prolonged torture had not been able to break Mr Baloch mentally.
The spokesman, quoting Salim Baloch, said that his captors had set him free on Sharea Faisal near the Karsaz flyover, telling him that he was being freed in Lahore. They strictly told him not to try and have a look at them following his release and to wait at least 20 minutes before taking off his blindfold.
Following his release, Mr Baloch asked passers-by where he was and upon realizing that it was Karachi, he caught a cab and reached his home at about 10pm, Zafar Jan told Dawn.
Mr Zafar lauded the efforts of the HRCP for the release of the JWP leader and urged the government to release all the detained Baloch activists.
