QUETTA: Chief of the inquiry commission on ‘missing persons’ Justice (R) Javed Iqbal said that baseless propaganda was being done pertaining to the number of missing persons in the country, DawnNews reported.

“For the past decade, authorities have been unable to compile the complete details of those on the list of missing persons,” Iqbal said.

He claimed that that foreign intelligence agencies were involved in the issue of missing persons.

The inquiry commission’s chief further said that the list also contained the names of those living abroad and also those who have been involved in terrorism-related cases.

Addressing a news conference in Quetta, the retired judge said that the chief minister of Balochistan had sent a list of 945 ‘missing’ persons to the commission. Iqbal moreover said that complete details of even 45 persons on the list had not been made available.

“We sent the list back to the ministry for correction but it never came back,” he added.

He further claimed that there was concrete evidence regarding the involvement of foreign agencies in the country.

The commission’s chief said that in the past week 12 people who had been missing were recovered from Balochistan. He claimed that some of the missing persons were in Afghanistan but they could not be recovered because they were in US-controlled territory.

Iqbal said the federal government had taken the missing persons’ issue seriously but trust on the state’s institutions was imperative in order to resolve it.