31 FIA officers found 'involved' in human smuggling
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The government has decided to put the names of 31 Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials and personnel, who were allegedly linked to the Greece boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis lost their lives, on the passport control list, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.
Of these 31 FIA inspectors, sub-inspectors and personnel, 19 are deputed at Faisalabad airport, five at Quetta airport, three at Sialkot airport, two at Lahore airport and an equal number at Islamabad airport.
A number of arrests have been made in recent days in different cities of the country as part of a crackdown on those linked to the tragic incident.
Early on Saturday, 24News TV channel reported that the FIA had arrested two human smugglers during a raid on a fake visa factory in Gujranwala.
FIA Composite Circle Gujranwala raided Shadman Colony and arrested Ziaur Rehman and Ijaz Ahmed.
The suspects provided fake visas to citizens with the help of agents in different parts of Pakistan.
They were involved in making and selling fake passports, visa stickers and other travel documents to innocent citizens in lieu of huge amounts of money.
It was also revealed that they were part of an international network of human traffickers.
During the raid, 20 Pakistani and 31 foreign passports, a large number of fake visa stickers were recovered. The machines used in the production of fake visa stickers were also recovered.
As many as 96 fake visa stickers of Europe, 18 of China, 41 of the UK and 12 of the US were recovered from the accused.
Fake visa stickers from Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Sweden, Malta, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, and the UAE were also recovered from the accused.
Moreover, 95 fake stamps, bank deposit slips, 13 fake residence cards and immigration stamps, lamination sheets and other travel documents were seized from the accused.
Similarly, two days ago, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested Saleem Akhtar, a key suspect in the Greece boat tragedy, from Gujrat.
According to the FIA spokesperson, the suspect had collected Rs2.8 million from a young man, Rehman Ali, who was among those who lost their lives in the incident.
Similarly, six days ago, the FIA had arrested two people, including a suspected human trafficker, in connection with the sinking of the boat off the coast of Greece on December 14.
At least four Pakistanis were killed while dozens went missing after their wooden boat capsized off Greece's southern island of Gavdos, the coastguard said, and witnesses said many were still missing as search operations continued.
Reporter: Tayyab Saif