GWADAR: Naveed Baloch, the Pakistani who was detained briefly by German police over suspicion that he was involved in the killings in Berlin on Monday, belongs to Kech district of Balochistan, according to one of his cousins.

“Naveed Baloch came to Germany to seek asylum due to the ongoing insurgency in different areas of Balochistan,” Abdul Waheed Baloch told Dawn by telephone from Berlin late on Tuesday.

Waheed said he, Naveed and another friend were crossing a road in the area where the deadly incident took place when police stopped them and said that they would be fined for a traffic violation. Later on, they took Naveed into custody.

In the meantime, television news channels began saying that Naveed had been arrested and was a suspect in the case. “Naveed was associated with the Baloch National Movement before leaving for Germany,” he said, adding that his father was living in a village close to the Pak-Iran border. One of Naveed’s brothers was living in Dubai.

Published in Dawn December 21st, 2016