QUETTA, June 5: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has ruled out the existence of the so-called Quetta Shura of Taliban and said that anyone having information about it should provide it to the government to enable it to take action.

Talking to newsmen here on Sunday, the minister said that no Taliban had been found in at least 30 raids conducted across Balochistan on the basis of information about their presence in the province. “We will take stern action against the Quetta Shura if we get incredible information and sufficient evidence.”

Answering a question about the May 17 Kharotabad incident in which five people, said to be Chechen nationals, were killed, he said the government would take action on the basis of the report of the judicial commission investigating the matter.

He said there had been some improvement in law and order in Balochistan and the situation would hopefully get better.

He accused anti-Pakistan elements of destabilising Balochistan and said the government would foil their designs.

He renewed the government’s dialogue offer to ‘angry’ Baloch groups to resolve the Balochistan issue and take part in efforts to develop their province.

Mr Malik said law-enforcement and intelligence agencies were working in coordination and taking joint action against anti-social and criminal elements.

He did not agree that the number of missing persons in Balochistan was in thousands and said the government had a list of 38 disappeared persons and efforts were being made to recover them.