QUETTA: Samples from two bodies found in a mountainous area of Mastung district on Thursday night have been sent to Islamabad for a DNA test to ascertain identity of the deceased.

Official sources said that the bodies of the deceased, who seemed to have died two month ago, might be of the two Chinese nationals — a man and a woman — who were kidnapped in Quetta’s Jinnah Town on May 24. They said the bodies were in bad condition and beyond recognition. Levies personnel shifted the bodies to the civil hospital in Mastung, from where they were sent to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta.

A security official told Dawn that the bodies found in Mastung were in very bad condition, adding that “they were just skeletons”. He said shoes worn by the two were also found on the bodies.

He said the DNA test was the only way to ascertain the identity of the victims.

According to sources, Chinese officials have been approached to get samples from relatives of the kidnapped man and woman for the DNA test.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2017