Islamabad police set up special help centre for release of detained Baloch people

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police on Sunday announced the establishment of a police special help centre to facilitate the release of the Baloch protesters who were detained during a crackdown after they attempted to enter the federal capital for a sit-in outside the National Press Club.

The long march and sit-in, which entered its third day on Sunday, has been organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a group of activists and relatives of missing persons from Balochistan, who are demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the province.

The BYC is led by Dr Mahrang Baloch, a prominent human rights activist and a vocal advocate for the rights of Balochistan’s marginalised communities.

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She has been actively involved in raising awareness about the human rights violations in the region and has been a strong critic of the Pakistani government’s policies.

The protesters had marched from Turbat to Islamabad, covering a distance of over 2,000 kilometres, to highlight the plight of the Baloch people and to seek justice for their loved ones who have gone missing or have been killed.

According to a statement issued by the Islamabad police, the police special help centre was set up after the protesters held a meeting with the committee headed by federal ministers Murtaza Solangi, Fawad Hasan Fawad and Jamal Shah.

The statement said that the process of releasing the arrested persons would be according to the law and that SSP Abdul Haq Imrani had been appointed as the focal person for the centre.

The centre would remain open for two days and the entire process would be supervised by DIG (operations) and SSP (operations), it added.

The Islamabad police also shared the contact details of the centre, including the phone number 051-9001534, the mobile number 03459600622 and the email address assistance.ictp@gmail.com, for providing immediate help to the protesters in case of any problem.