Islamabad: An unidentified body was found
along with the car of a missing journalist near the central
Pakistani city of Jhelum on Monday, police said.
The car belonged to Syed Saleem Shahzad, a journalist
with Asia Times Online, who has been missing since Sunday
evening, police and his relatives said.
The car was found at Sarai Alamghir near Jhelum city
this afternoon.
Reports said the identity cards of two persons,
including Shahzad, were found inside the vehicle.
Shahzad`s family left for Jhelum on being informed by
police about the car being found in the area.
Reports quoted Shahzad`s relatives as saying that
initial descriptions did not indicate that the body was that
of the missing journalist.
Rights groups like the Human Rights Watch have said
they believe Shahzad is in the custody of Pakistani
intelligence agencies.
Shahzad, who is the Pakistan bureau chief of Asia
Times Online, went missing days after authoring an article in
which he contended that al Qaeda attacked a naval airbase in
Karachi after failed talks with the navy to release some
arrested persons.
He had left his house in Islamabad to participate in a
television programme on Sunday but did not reach the TV
station.
PTI
