Hameed’s gunshot-riddled body was found outside Turbat, a
city in western Baluchistan province, after he disappeared on October 25 while
traveling to his home in Gwader, according to the Gwader Press Club. Local
journalists believed he had been seized by Pakistani security officials,
according to Mazhar Abbas, former secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal
Union of Journalists.
Hameed reported for the Urdu-language Daily Intikhab and
worked as a stringer for several other news outlets, Abbas said. He was an
active supporter of the Baluch National Movement, a political organization that
advocates for an autonomous Baluchistan, according to Baluch nationalist
websites and local news reports. Both his reporting and his political
activities were considered possible motives for his murder, according to Owais
Aslam Ali, secretary-general of the Pakistan Press Foundation.
The body of another man, Hamid Ismail, was discovered with
Baloch, according to local news reports. Four other bodies were found across
Baluchistan during Eid Al-Adha, according to the Lahore-based Daily Times
newspaper. Relatives alleged that government officials had targeted the victims
for their political activism.