QUETTA: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Thursday extended the physical remand of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief Dr Mahrang Baloch and several other organisers of the group for another 15 days, on the request of police, according to her lawyer.
Advocate Israr Baloch said that Mahrang, along with BYC leaders Bebow Baloch, Sibghatullah Shahji, Gulzadi, and Beberg Baloch, was produced before Judge Muhammad Ali Mubeen of ATC-I, who approved the extension.
The BYC, founded in 2018, is a Baloch advocacy organisation campaigning against enforced disappearances. Its leaders have been under detention since March 22, when they were arrested following a police crackdown on protests in Quetta. They face allegations of attacking the Civil Hospital and inciting violence.
Mahrang was initially detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), which allows preventive detention for up to 30 days. The Balochistan Home Department subsequently extended her detention multiple times. Later, cases were also registered against her and other BYC leaders under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code.
The ATC has since granted repeated extensions of their physical remand. Last month, an ATC in Karachi also issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Mahrang in a sedition case, adding to the string of legal challenges she faces.
