The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in a crackdown against the sugar mafia arrested seven members of a betting gang involved in activities to increase sugar prices through fake bank accounts, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.
The arrests were made during raids conducted by FIA Commercial Banks Circle (CBC) under the supervision of AD Fahad Khawaja.
A case has been registered against the accused under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The accused were found involved in betting in the sugar market and speculative pricing of sugar using fake bank accounts.
Reportedly, three brokers arrested were identified as Dayal Das, Santosh Kumar and Raj Kumar. The FIA also got remand of the accused from the court.
On March 25, The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered cases against 10 large groups of sugar betting mafia.
Quoting sources, the channel reported that the FIA had constituted 20 teams to arrest those connected to this mafia.
The groups against which cases have been registered are Malik Abad Group, consisting of Malik Abad, Asad Pervaiz Butt and Sheikh Sajid.
Another group against which, according to the sources, a case has been registered is Multan Group consisting of Rashid Multan, Amir Asif, Qaiser Salim and Asif Bilal.
Maulvi Zaheer Group is another group on the list against which case has been registered. The group consists of Waqas Ashraf Chawla and Maulvi Zaheer himself.
Similarly, a case has also been registered against Malik Majid Group consisting of Sufyan Malik, Furqan Baba and Zahid Malik.
Another group that has been booked is Khurram Dawai Group, consisting of Khurram Shafi, Khurram Dawai and Nadeem Aftab.
Mirza Group is another group of sugar mafia. The group consists of Sheikh Amir Waheed, Mirza Nadeem, Mustansar Gogi and Asad Bhayya.
Tufail Goga Group is another on the list that has been booked. The group consists of Sheikh Tufail, Imran Tufail, Sohail Butt and Junaid alia Goga Butt.
Bhali Group comes next against which case has been registered. FIA sources say the group consists of Mehmood Bhali, Aslam Bhali and Haji Heera.
Another group, connected to sugar mafia, is Paracha Group which consists of Atif Paracha and Mushtaq Paracha.
Butt Group comes next. According to sources, Umar Salahuddin and Faisal Salahuddin are included in the group.
All these groups did betting for Tareen Group, Shareef Group, Alliance Group, Al Mueez (Thal Group) and Hamza Sugar Mill Group.
Sources in FIA told 24News that it had also been revealed that these suspects also laundered money or a large scale.
Reporter Daniyal Syed