QUETTA, Aug 19: The bullet-riddled bodies of five employees of the local government department were found in Chahtar area of Nasirabad district on Tuesday.

They had been kidnapped two weeks ago by unknown armed men who also captured 22 people who had gone to the area to look for the missing personnel.

Sources said that a villager informed police on Tuesday morning about five bodies lying in a field.

Police took the bodies to the Dera Murad Jamali civil hospital and handed them over to relatives.

The victims were identified as Chahtar TMO Mohammad Bakhshal, sub-engineer Abdul Sattar, clerk Hasil Khan, driver Shahnawaz and contractor Bakhsh.

Hospital sources said the five had been shot at point-blank range.

“Twenty-two other people were still in the custody of the kidnappers,” the sources said.

The Nasirabad DPO said that an investigation was in progress and police were trying to arrest the killers and rescue the hostages.

“A probe team has been formed,” the DPO said.

Baloch Republican Army spokesman Sirbaz Baloch claimed responsibility for the killings.

He said that the local government employees had been working against the interest of the Baloch people.