Muhammad Kazim
BBCUrdu.com, Quetta
Abdul Hafeez, the youngest son of Haji Muhammad Hassan, a resident of Khuzdar district of Balochistan, has been reported missing from Khuzdar city since Tuesday. He says Abdul Hafeez was teaching children in the evening at an educational institution in Khuzdar when armed masked men picked him up from the classroom.
Abdul Hafeez Baloch hails from Baghbana area of Khuzdar.
He is a final year M.Phil in Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad.
According to Khuzdar police, regarding the alleged disappearance of Abdul Hafeez, his relatives have applied for registration of a case on which action has been initiated.
How did the alleged disappearance happen?
Abdul Hafeez’s father Haji Muhammad Hassan told the BBC that his son Abdul Hafeez had come to Khuzdar from Islamabad in the last week of January on holiday.
He said that Abdul Hafeez was very fond of education so even during the holidays he did not lose his connection with teaching and he used to go to a local institution in the evening to teach children for free.
He said that even on February 8, he was in the academy to teach the children when three masked armed men came in a black surf car.
“Two of them came into the classroom and forcibly took Abdul Hafeez with them to an unknown location in front of the students.”
He said that when the people of the academy informed him about the incident, they tried their best to trace him on their own but they did not succeed in tracing him.
He said that out of frustration, he lodged a complaint with the City Police Station Khuzdar regarding his disappearance.
He said that his son was not involved in any negative activities and his attention was always on his studies.
“Abdul Hafeez wanted to pass on the knowledge he had acquired to others, which is why he used to go out in the evenings to teach children.”
He said his family was devastated by the loss of his son. He said he had no animosity towards anyone so he could not say why his son was missing.
What do the authorities say?
Deputy Commissioner Khuzdar Abdul Qaddos Achakzai told the BBC that the incident was under police investigation. He said that SSP Khuzdar was investigating the matter.
When contacted, Khuzdar City Police Station SHO Muhammad Afzal told the BBC over the phone that his relatives had lodged a complaint at the police station regarding Hafeez Baloch’s disappearance.
He said that his relatives did not file a report immediately after the incident but tried to find him on their own.
The SHO said that they had requested for Hafeez’s disappearance on Wednesday after 24 hours and after receiving the request, the procedure has been started.
Demand for recovery of Abdul Hafeez on social media
The incident of Abdul Hafeez’s disappearance kept trending on social media on Tuesday and Wednesday and users were seen demanding his recovery and release.
A user named Jalil Baloch wrote, “A bright future for Balochistan is in illegal custody today. Civil society is requested to raise voice for immediate recovery of Hafeez Baloch.
Another user, Ejaz Baba, wrote demanding his release: “This is one of our worst times that our friends are disappearing in broad daylight but they are not being traced.” In another tweet, he wrote that we have more missing persons charts than books.
Farman Baloch also demanded his release, saying that “instead of students, there are universities and not torture cells without any charges.”
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