A missing Pakistani journalist who worked for Chinese and Italian news agencies has been found dead and his body shows signs of torture, according to police. Syed Saleem Shahzad was last seen Sunday evening leaving his home in Islamabad to appear on a talk show. Police say the 40-year-old’s body was found late Monday in a canal in the town of Mandi Bahauddin. His car was found nearby.
"His body was found by residents late Monday on a bank of a small canal. There are some bruises on his body," Mandi Bahauddin police chief Daar Ali Khattak told Reuters.
The cause of death was not immediately known. Before his disappearance, Shahzad allegedly told Human Rights Watch that he had received threats from Inter-Services Intelligence. ISI is Pakistan’s military intelligence agency. The agency has not commented on Shahzad’s death.
Shahzad worked for the Italian news agency Adnkronos International and the China-based Asia Times. Adnkronos director Giuseppe Marra offered condolences to Shahzad’s wife and three children in a statement released Tuesday. “We will never forget his phone calls from the most remote corners of the world and his illuminating analyses on social and cultural realities so different from our own,” Marra added.
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