QUETTA, Nov 24: The chairman of Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior, Senator Talha Mehmood, has called for a general amnesty in Balochistan.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said that during a meeting on the Balochistan issue the committee observed that the authorities had failed to trace missing people.

“The committee has taken notice of the situation and directed the chief secretary to present a report on the missing people in two days,” he said.

He said the committee was informed that only 52 of the 900 missing people had been found so far.

He said the committee directed the Balochistan police chief to submit a comprehensive report on crime in the province within two days.

Members of the committee said that incidents of kidnapping for ransom had gone up by 90 per cent in the province.

“Involvement of foreign hands cannot be ruled out in the prevailing disturbances in the country,” he said. “We have to give legitimate rights to the federating units, including Balochistan, for bringing peace and order in the country,” he said.

He said that the use of force in tribal areas and Balochistan was unjustified.