Razzaq, 35, a copy editor for the news desk of the
Urdu-language pro-Baluch nationalist newspaper Daily Tawar, had been missing
since March 2013. He was last seen leaving his friend’s house in the Liyari
neighborhood of Karachi on March 24, 2013 according to news reports.
Razzaq’s body was found in the Surjani Town area of Karachi
on August 21. His face was mutilated, and his body showed signs of
strangulation and torture, according to Agence
France-Presse. His body was found alongside that of another man from
Baluchistan, according to news reports.
The reports cited unnamed police sources as saying they found paper slips with
the names of both victims along with the bodies. At least 16 bodies of Baluch
individuals were found in the Surjani Town area of Karachi in the six months
preceding Razzaq’s death, according to news reports.
Razzaq’s family initially denied that the body was that of
the journalist, but then later confirmed his identity, reports
said.
Daily Tawar is known for its coverage of the many
conflicts between rival groups and the government. Razzaq, who had worked for the Daily Tawar
since 2009, briefly left the newspaper after another Daily Tawar journalist
was found dead after being reported missing, according to Razzaq’s friend, who
spoke to CPJ by email. Javed Naseer Rind
was found in November 2011 with multiple bullet wounds in his head and chest,
and his body showed signs of torture, news reports said. Rind had been missing
for two months. Razzaq resumed his work at the paper in December 2012.
Razzaq was also a supporter of the Baluch National Movement,
a nationalist political organization.
In a press conference at the Karachi Press Club following
the journalist’s disappearance in March, Razzaq’s family members accused Pakistani
intelligence agencies of being responsible for the abduction, but did not
elaborate. CPJ research shows that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are
suspected in a number of disappearances, including the 2011 abduction and
murder of Saleem Shahzad.
Journalists from Baluchistan face pressure from a number of
sources: pro-Taliban groups and Pakistani security forces and intelligence
agencies, as well as Baluch separatists and state-sponsored anti-separatist
militant groups.