QUETTA: Police say an official of the Afghan Consulate Quetta has gone missing from Satellite Town area.

Sardar Shah, a police official of the Satellite Town police station told Dawn.com that Muhammad Hashim who works in the passport section of Afghan Consulate Quetta had gone missing on July 25.

He said Siddiqullah, the son of the missing Afghan official, has lodged an FIR in Satellite Town police station.

"We have no information about the whereabouts of my father since July 25," Siddiqullah was quoted by police while registering the case.

Afghan Consul General Ghullam Muhammad Bahadur has also confirmed to journalists that the consulate had lost contact with Muhammad Hashim since Tuesday.

Bahadur said the consulate was in close contact with the government of Balochistan for Muhammad Hashim's recovery.

Kidnapping for ransom has increased in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. Gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom are so influential that despite tall claims on the part of government, the incidents of abductions were on the rise.

Former Deputy Inspector General Police Operations, Hamid Shakeel once told reporters that 78 gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom were operating in Quetta city alone.