RAWALPINDI:
The FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) arrested human traffickers, allegedly involved in the Greek ship tragedy, a day after arresting two of its own officers for showing negligence at Faisalabad airport.
Following instructions from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the FIA-AHTC had intensified its crackdown on human traffickers, particularly those involved in the capsizing of the Greek ship earlier this month. In this sense, according to sources, the most wanted suspect, whose name appears in the “Red Book”, was also arrested.
The Greek ship tragedy occurred on the night of December 13-14. A migrant boat carrying 84 people, mostly Pakistanis, capsized in the middle of the sea while en route to Greece. Greek authorities were only able to rescue 47 passengers and recovered the bodies of five Pakistanis. More than 30 were still missing.
According to authorities, 18 victims of the Greek ship crash traveled through Faisalabad airport. Of them, 17 were rescued by Greek authorities, while one victim, identified as Sufyan, died. An agent named Abdul Rauf reportedly collected a huge sum of money from the victims to send them to Greece.
The FIA Composite Circle in Faisalabad registered a case against three human traffickers, Abdul Rauf, Abbas Zulfiqar and Qamar-uz-Zaman. Authorities arrested two officers who were on duty at Faisalabad airport at the time of the victims’ travel for showing negligence in the screening process of travelers.
Following the arrest of FIA inspector Zubair Ashraf and sub-inspector Shahid Imran, the scope of the investigation was widened and raids were being carried out to nab the human traffickers named in the case, sources said.
Meanwhile, FIA-AHTC, Lahore, arrested two smugglers involved in a Greek ship accident. Those arrested allegedly took Rs 8.8 million to illegally send four people to Italy. Among the four, two people, Hammad and Khawar, died in the boat accident.
Sources said alleged human trafficker Nawaz Sansi was arrested from Farooqabad, while a proclaimed criminal Naveed Shah was nabbed from Nankana Sahib. Gujranwala FIA Zone arrested Muhammad Suleman, wanted by the authorities in seven cases of human trafficking.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday ordered to initiate strict punitive action against officials involved in the slow action against human trafficking after the 2023 boat capsizing incident.
The prime minister, who chaired a high-level meeting on prevention of human trafficking here, derided human trafficking as a regrettable crime that brings “dishonor to Pakistan across the world.” He directed relevant agencies to enhance coordination to prevent human trafficking and ensure identification of FIA officials involved in facilitating human trafficking and take strict action against them.
He also ordered to complete the ongoing investigation into human trafficking incidents as soon as possible and submit concrete recommendations to overcome the menace.
During the meeting, he was briefed on the boat accident in Greece and the measures taken to prevent human trafficking. The Prime Minister was informed that five Pakistanis who died in the said accident had been identified, while the identification of the others was being carried out.
