KARACHI, March 23: The bullet-riddled body of Gwadar Development Authority official Mohammad Arif Noor, who went missing on Oct 31 from his Garden residence, has been found in Winder, Lasbela district, some 120km from here.

Mr Arif's family members said they received a telephone call from Winder police station on Wednesday morning, informing them that a mutilated body had been found. A piece of paper in one of the pockets of the deceased suggested that he was Arif Noor.

Some close relatives went to Winder and took over the body from police officials there.

At a press conference a few weeks ago, Abid Noor, the younger brother of Arif, had alleged that his brother had been kidnapped by security agency personnel and that his life could be in danger.

Abid also approached the Sindh High Court and filed a petition that sought the tracing of Arif's whereabouts. The plea said the family members had failed to locate Arif despite repeated requests to senior law-enforcement officials.

According to the family, Arif was a grade-16 officer in the Gwadar Development Authority and suffered from spine problems. He came to Karachi for treatment, but was kidnapped from his house in Garden area.

Abid said that some armed men in plain clothes, escorted by policemen, had surrounded his neighbourhood in Garden East, entered their apartment and took his brother away in late October.

Another bullet-riddled body, identified to be that of Nawaz Marri, was also found in the same locality of Lasbela district.

According to a report received here, the deceased had gone missing on Jan 5 from Hub.