Hello my dear readers! How are you all today? I hope you are safe and well, and your families too. Kal shaam daftar se ghar aya to abbu TV par khabar dekh kar pareshan thay — Mastung mein 20 police recruits ke aghwa ki khabrein, magar officials ka inkaar! Dil ghamgeen hua. Aisi khabrein sun kar har Pakistani ke dil mein aik sawal uthta hai: asal sach kya hai? Dekhiye, mein security ka mahir nahi — bas aik aam Pakistani hoon jo aisi khabron par apne mulk ke jawano ke liye dua karta hai. To aaiye, dono taraf ki khabron ko aasaan lafzon mein samajhte hain. Aur jo kuch samajh aaye, apne doston ke sath zaroor share karein.
Mastung Police Abduction: What Dawn Reported
On October 17, Dawn newspaper reported that armed men kidnapped 20 young police recruits in Balochistan. Let me share the details exactly as Dawn reported them.
According to Dawn, these 20 young men were under-training police recruits. They belonged to the Levies Force, which is a local security force in Balochistan that has now joined the regular police. (You can read Dawn’s full report here.) These recruits were from the Rakhshan division of Balochistan.
Dawn said the recruits were travelling in a passenger van on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Mastung district. They were going home for the weekend. Their training centre is the Kalat Police Training Centre.
A senior Balochistan government official told Dawn that armed men stopped their van. The official spoke on the condition that his name would not be shared. He said the armed men were riding motorcycles and carrying automatic weapons. They stopped the van, took the 20 recruits with the vehicle, and went to an unknown place.
The same official said the armed men released the driver of the van and three other passengers. Only the 20 recruits were taken away.
Dawn also reported that police officials in Mastung confirmed the kidnapping. Security forces started a search operation in the nearby mountains to find the missing recruits. But at the time of the report, there was no news about where they were.
Dawn added that no group had taken responsibility for the kidnapping.
What BBC Urdu and Other Outlets Reported
BBC Urdu also reported the kidnapping of the 20 police personnel. A report shared by other outlets, based on BBC Urdu’s reporting, gave a few more details.
According to that report, the recruits belonged to four districts of the Rakhshan Division: Washuk, Chagai, Kharan, and Nushki. They were on leave and travelling in a private van. They took a shorter road called the Sarband route, which connects Kalat and Nushki.
The report said the armed men stopped the van, released the driver and two or three other passengers, and took the police personnel to an unknown location. It also mentioned that in a separate incident, armed men demolished an abandoned police checkpost in Killa Abdullah district.
Indian news channel News18 also covered the story and called it a major security concern for Balochistan.
So, big names like Dawn and BBC Urdu reported the same basic story: 20 young recruits taken by armed men.
Mastung Police Abduction: Officials Deny the Reports
Now here is the other side, and this is why I am being careful today.
A fact-check report by Burak Digital said that local administration and security officials denied these reports. According to that fact-check (read it here), the officials said no such kidnapping took place. They said the reports of the abduction were not correct.
The fact-check also noted something important: it is not clear whether the officials gave this denial on the record (with their names) or only spoke privately. Officials shared the denial verbally, not in a written official statement.
So we have a difficult situation. On one side, Dawn and BBC Urdu — two very respected news names — reported the kidnapping, quoting government officials. On the other side, some local officials are now saying it never happened.
As your writer, I will not tell you which side is 100 percent right, because I do not have proof beyond these reports. What I can do is show you both sides, which is what honest news must do.
This Is Not the First Such Incident in Balochistan
Whether or not this exact report is true, one thing is clear from past news: kidnappings of officials in Balochistan have happened before. Dawn’s own report mentioned three recent examples.
Just one day before this report, on October 16, armed men abducted the Commissioner of Rakhshan Division, Asad Ullah Kakar, in Kharan district of Balochistan. A commissioner is a very senior government officer. So this was big news on its own.
Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner of Kharan, Munir Ahmed Soomro, came home safely on October 3 after spending nearly two weeks in captivity. Armed men had abducted him from the Noshki-Kharan highway. Local tribal elders secured his release after talks with the armed men who had taken him.
And on July 21, armed men kidnapped three excise officials after an attack on a checkpost in Chagai district of Balochistan.
These past incidents show that Balochistan has a real security problem. Armed groups have targeted government officers and security personnel many times before. Balochistan has faced a difficult week in other ways too — just days ago, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook Khuzdar, which I also covered here in simple words. This background is important, because it is the reason why reports like today’s spread so fast and worry so many people.
If you want to understand how Pakistan handles the investigation of big tragedies, you can also read my article about the Peshawar school roof collapse probe, where I explained step by step how an official inquiry works.
Why Conflicting Reports Happen
You may ask: how can Dawn report a kidnapping and officials deny it on the same day? Let me explain in simple words.
Sometimes, in areas with security problems, information moves slowly. Officials may not want to confirm bad news quickly. Sometimes early reports have mistakes in the details, like the exact number of people or the exact place. And sometimes, sadly, completely false news also spreads.
This is why Pak Unfiltered always tries to show you more than one source. When you read any breaking news — on TV, on social media, or even here — always ask: who is saying this? Is there proof? Is the other side also being heard?
That is the lesson of the Mastung police abduction story. Twenty young recruits may be in danger, or the report may be wrong. Either way, the truth matters more than speed.
What Happens Next
If the kidnapping did happen, the search operation in the mountains of Mastung is the most important thing right now. The families of these young recruits must be going through terrible pain. Our hearts and prayers are with them.
If the report is wrong, then the news outlets that published it owe the public a clear correction. Trust is the most valuable thing a news outlet has.
I will keep watching this story. If new, confirmed information comes out — from either side — I will update you here on Pak Unfiltered. That is my promise.
Take care, and please keep the people of Balochistan in your prayers.
If you have any questions about this story, or if you heard something different from a trusted source, please visit our Contact Us page at https://pakunfiltered.com/contact-us/ and share it with me. I read every message.
Take care.
