QUETTA: A Quetta Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) On Tuesday extended the detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other prominent organisers of the group, granting them a 10-day physical remand in police custody.
This decision follows the extension of their previous three-month detention.
Dr. Mahrang and several BYC members were arrested in March for allegedly “attacking” the Quetta Civil Hospital and “inciting violence,” one day after the group had faced a police crackdown for protesting against enforced disappearances. The BYC, a Baloch advocacy group, has been vocal against enforced disappearances since its establishment in 2018.
Mahrang is currently held at the Hudda District Prison in Quetta under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance of March 22, which allows authorities to detain individuals deemed to pose a threat to public order.
The remand hearing also saw other BYC organisers, including Sibghatullah Shah, Beberg Baloch, Ghaffar Baloch, Gulzadi, and Beebow Baloch, being sent into 10-day police custody.
In June, Mahrang’s sister, Nadia Baloch, filed an appeal against the rejection of her petition seeking her sister’s release under the MPO. The appeal, filed before the Supreme Court, claimed that the detention order was in violation of constitutional principles, law, and factual circumstances.
Nadia further argued that the repeated unlawful detention and labelling of Mahrang as a supporter of militants were part of a systematic effort to silence her voice on behalf of the missing persons.
Earlier in June, the Kech chapter of the BYC staged a three-day hunger strike outside the Turbat Press Club to protest the arrests of its leadership. However, constitutional petitions for the release of the detained activists were rejected by the Balochistan High Court in May.
