QUETTA, May 8: Three factions of the Baloch Students Organization have announced to block highways at different points on Monday to protest against the government’s reluctance to release eight of its members who were arrested by the Karachi police on March 24.

Speaking at a conference in the press club here on Sunday, the representatives of the student’s body expressed fear that either the arrested people had been “eliminated in extra-judicial killings” or “kept in torture cells” of intelligence agencies.

The three factions of the BSO –- led by Asif Baloch, Amanullah Baloch and Dr Imdad Baloch — have formed an alliance and set aside their ideological differences in order to struggle jointly from one platform to frustrate what they called the designs of anti-Baloch rulers.

Asif Baloch (convenor), Mohinuddin Baloch (deputy convenor) and information secretary of the alliance alleged that the passive stance of the PML and MQM over the BSO members’ arrest was obvious from the fact that both political groups back the extra-constitutional steps of law-enforcement agencies.

They said that on May 9 alliance activists and sympathizers would block highways at different spots and observe shutter-down strike.

They said that if the arrested people were not freed than a long march from Mastung to Quetta would be announced and a protest would be held in front of the governor’s house.