QUETTA: Dr Mahrang Baloch has been named among 150 individuals, including prominent leaders from the Balcoh Yakjehti Committee (BYC), facing charges encompassing various serious offences such as terrorism, incitement to rebellion, and murder.

A first information report (FIR), lodged at the Saryab Police Station on Saturday, also named Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Satakzai, Sabiha Baloch, Sabatullah Baloch, Gulzar Dost, Riaz Gashkori, Dr Shali Baloch, and others among the accused.

Charges against these individuals include violations of Sections 7 and 11W of the Anti-Terrorism Act, as well as 16 sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. 

These charges cover terrorism, murder, attempted murder, incitement to violence and rebellion, creating disorder, promoting racial hatred and damaging property.

Mahrang, along with 17 others, was arrested and is currently being held at the Quetta District Jail under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.

The case accused Mahrang and the BYC leadership of assisting rioters in shooting police officers, passersby, civilians, and their protesting colleagues, which resulted in the deaths of three individuals and left 15 police officers injured.

The group is also facing charges for their involvement in a chaotic attack on the Civil Hospital and forcibly taking the bodies of attackers from the Jaffer Express train bombing.

The FIR related to the Civil Hospital incident, which was lodged at the Civil Lines Police Station in Quetta last week, states that 100 to 150 people had stormed the medical facility and forcibly took the bodies of attackers involved in the Jaffer Express train attack from the hospital’s morgue upon the instigation of the BYC leadership.

The FIR states that the accused stopped a private ambulance at Hockey Chowk, beat the driver, and loaded the bodies into the ambulance.

Additionally, another FIR was filed against BYC leaders Gulzadi Baloch, Ali Jan, Shoaib, Syed Noor Shah, Waheed, Jahanzeb, Zohaib Baloch, and over 100 other individuals, at the Brewery Police Station in Quetta.

This case accuses the individuals of blocking the Western Bypass Road on Saturday while chanting slogans against the state and its institutions, inciting public unrest. 

It is worth noting that under the leadership of Mahrang, protesters began a sit-in by placing bodies on Saryab Road on Friday night. Later, on the next day, the police launched a crackdown on the protesters, arresting Mahrang and several others.

According to police, Mahrang’s arrest has not been officially disclosed yet, and she is not in the custody of the Civil Lines Police but is being held in District Jail, possibly under Sections 3 or 16 MPO.

Meanwhile, shutter-down strikes were held for the second consecutive day in several cities of the province on Sunday, including Turbat, Hub, and Dalbadin among others. 

In Turbat, a protest sit-in has been ongoing for two days with the Turbat-Karachi highway blocked in protest. In Hub, at Bhawani, protesters blocked the Quetta-Karachi Highway in protest against Mahrang’s arrest. 

However, police dispersed the protesters with tear gas and baton charges on Sunday morning. According to the police, the highway has been reopened for traffic.

Business and trade centres remained closed in Mastung, Kalat, Kharan, Chaghi, Panjgur, Turbat, and several other cities due to protests.

Meanwhile, a complete shutter-down strike continued in Dalbandin and other areas of Balochistan for the second consecutive day, following the call of BYC. As a result, all business centres remained closed. 

In addition, the BYC organised a rally and protests with demonstrators demanding the immediate release of arrested leaders and action against the officers involved in alleged violence against demonstrators in Quetta.

A rally was also held in Dhadar, where participants demanded the immediate release of BYC leadership and chanted slogans in support of missing persons before dispersing peacefully.