QUETTA: The Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday gave Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, police and other intelligence agencies two week’s time for the recovery of missing persons.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, heard the case pertaining to unrest in Balochistan at the Supreme Court’s Quetta registry.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that there was no progress in the recovery of missing persons other than mere assurances for their recovery.

Meanwhile, Additional Attorney General Habibullah Shakir informed the bench that the missing persons would be recovered soon, upon which Chief Justice Iftikhar said there was no progress in their recovery during the past three years.

The bench said unlawful detention of a person was a violation of human rights, adding that FC and other intelligence agencies had evidence of at least 70 missing people.

Justice Jawad S. Khawaja, present on the bench, said there were records of at least 506 people in custody of government agencies. He added that if any one of them was a criminal, they should be tried as per the law.

Chief Justice Iftikhar also remarked on the increasing number of bodies being recovered from different parts of Pakistan, saying it was an extremely dangerous situation.

Deputy Advocate General (DAG), Tariq Ali Tahir submitted a report to the SC, detailing the anti-terrorist operations being undertaken in Quetta and Bolan. The report also talked about the general conditions of Balochistan.

DAG Tahir also told the court about the high number of explosives and arms that were confiscated from the Eastern Bypass and Satellite Town in Quetta.

The chief justice responded by asking the chief secretary to relate to the court exactly where 60,000 kilograms worth of ammunition and explosives was found.

CJ Iftikhar asked which routes were being used to smuggle so much ammunition into the country. He further demanded that Afghan refugees be kept within the boundaries of their camps.

The bench expressed hope that the new Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) chief might be able to produce better results.

The court gave police, FC persons and other intelligence agencies two weeks’ time for the recovery of missing persons.

The case's hearing is scheduled to take place after two weeks.