KARACHI, Nov 28: As the Supreme Court registry in Karachi demanded answers about the missing persons, the bodies of three men were found in Pishin’s Bostan area, families of the missing told Dawn on Thursday.

Sitting in a camp outside the Karachi Press Club, the families were visited by the defence minister but without leaving much of an impact on them.

The minister promised them that their loved ones would be home soon, but the families remained doubtful.

Showing copies of local newspapers from Balochistan, Farzana Majeed, a sister of Zakir Majeed, a member of the Baloch Student Organisation-Azad, said that four-day-old bodies of three men were found on Wednesday in Pishin, while a lawyer working with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was kidnapped in Turbat. “We are used to hearing assurances and fiery speeches. They know everything, but it depends on them what they do about it,” Farzana added.

The families said that a girl sitting inside the camp, Sammi Baloch, was wrongly informed by an official that her father, Deen Mohammad, who had been missing since 2009, had returned home. It created excitement among the families, out on the streets for over a month now, followed by a sharp realisation that if it were true, they would have received a call from home. With her face covered like other women’s in the camp, Sammi Baloch said it would be better “if people are not misinformed. We are already going through a lot”.

The camp was buzzing with activity as usual. People from far off areas had come to meet the families.

Vice president of the Voice of Missing Baloch Persons (VOMBP) Qadeer Baloch said that he had witnessed hundreds of court hearings since his son Jalil Reiki was abducted and later killed, allegedly in the custody of the security agencies, in 2011.

“The same pattern is followed, with the same observations and accusations hurled across. But later all is forgotten. Our sanity depends on one question: our children are in the custody of security agencies or not?” he added.

To highlight their ordeal in the restive province, VOMBP is organising a seminar on Dec 10 at the KPC. The HRCP is quoting a figure of 550 missing men, but the VOMBP maintains that the figure is in thousands.

Speaking to Dawn, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said: “Rights groups and organisations working on the issue, including those who are part of the government, need to reach a definitive figure to ensure proper work on it.” He said if the men were in an “illegal custody, they need to be brought out and if there are cases against them, they should be heard in court.” Explaining, he said the attorney general had presented a list of 738 men who have been “located in various detention camps”, which he said was a positive sign.

Speaking about the families of those missing, he said: “They are not wrong in demanding a broad-based policy from the government. It will be better for the institutions as well, because at present they are being accused from all sides. On our part, we’ll make sure that security officials face court as we do.”

Qadeer Baloch said that after Dec 10, the families would organise a ‘long march’ towards Islamabad. “If we can come to Karachi, we can cover the 1,500- kilometre distance to Islamabad also. I have faith that we’ll be supported on our way there too,” he added.