Journalist found dead in Karachi

Karachi: A 42-year-old journalist, who had gone missing five months back, has been found dead in Pakistan's largest city Karachi.

Police said that a body found dumped on the outskirts of Karachi has been identified as that of Haji Abdul Razzaq Baloch who had gone missing from his home in Lyari area.

A senior police official said that there was a note attached with the body which suggested he was Razzaq.

"However they were many torture marks on his body and his family identified him after much difficulty," the official said.

He was associated with the Baloch Urdu-language daily Tawar.

Razzaq's sister said his face and body was not recognisable due to marks of extreme torture.

"We recognised him through his hands and feet," she said.

Razzaq was an ethnic Baloch and worked as a sub-editor at Tawar (Voice). He had gone missing in late March.

Human rights and press freedom groups have expressed concern over the dozens of disappearances from Karachi and the troubled Balochistan province.

According to these groups, hundreds have been detained, killed or have gone missing as government forces try to crush an uprising by Baloch groups.