Missing Pakistani journalist found dead in Punjab

From Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad (PTI) - A prominent Pakistani
journalist who went missing over the weekend, was found dead
in Punjab province on Tuesday and his body bore marks of
torture, police said.
40-year-old Syed Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistan bureau
chief for Asia Times Online, was reported missing on Sunday
evening shortly after he left his home here for a television
station.
Reports earlier in the day said a body had been found
near Shahzad's car at Sarai Alamghir near Jhelum town. After
police informed Shahzad's family, a relative went to the site
and identified the body.
Police said Shahzad's body bore marks of torture.
Shahzad's family had earlier told the media that the
description provided by police did not match with that of the
missing journalist.
Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, had
earlier said they believed Shahzad was in the custody of
Pakistani intelligence agencies.
The International Federation of Journalists and the
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists had appealed to the
Pakistani government to order security agencies to trace
Shahzad.
No group claimed responsibility for the killing and
Shahzad's family said he had no enmity with anyone.
Shazad had shifted from Karachi to Islamabad two years
back and his reporting mostly focussed on militant groups,
including banned groups and al Qaeda.