The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is continuing its investigation into the Greek ship accident and departmental investigations are underway into 31 of its officials and staff members.
According to sources, a special team formed under the leadership of the FIA Director General has summoned all the concerned officers at the Islamabad headquarters for a step-by-step personal hearing on the allegations.
Initial investigations revealed that 31 FIA officials and staff were allegedly involved in the incident, prompting authorities to add their names to the Passport Control List, Express News reported.
The list includes officials from Faisalabad Airport (19), Sialkot Airport (3), Lahore Airport (2), Islamabad Airport (2) and Quetta Airport (5). The officers concerned include inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and police constables.
The preliminary investigation found that the 31 officers allegedly participated in providing assistance to people trying to flee abroad or were negligent in their duties, which contributed to the boat accident.
According to sources, the FIA has declared these officials as suspects in the investigation into the Greek boat tragedy, and personal hearings are being held in phases. An FIA spokesperson stated that as soon as a decision is made or departmental action is taken against the official, details will be shared.
A few weeks ago, at least five migrants drowned after their wooden boat capsized off the island of Gavdos in southern Greece.
Earlier, the FIA arrested two more people, including a woman, who were allegedly part of a racket smuggling gullible Pakistanis to Europe.
According to Express News, FIA Gujranwala arrested Ayesha Fatima and Abdullah Shehzad during an operation. The accused had extorted a total of Rs 7.4 million from three victims of a recent tragedy that capsized a ship near Greece.
FIA Gujranwala zonal director Abdul Qadir Qamar said the suspect sent the victims to Libya, where they were later rescued after a boat accident. Abdullah Shehzad had sent to Greece a young man who tragically lost his life in the accident.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered strict action against FIA officials involved in facilitating human trafficking following the tragic Greek boat incident in which at least five Pakistani nationals died.
The Prime Minister issued these directives during a meeting in Islamabad, aimed at addressing the growing problem of human trafficking.
Prime Minister Shehbaz directed the relevant authorities to expedite the ongoing investigation into human trafficking and submit concrete recommendations as soon as possible. He stressed that such incidents tarnish Pakistan’s global image and must be addressed quickly and effectively.
“The delay in taking action against those responsible for last year’s ship sinking incident is worrying,” he said, adding: “We cannot allow this to continue as these tragedies only damage the reputation of our country.”
Repatriation of victims of the ship tragedy begins
Repatriation of bodies of Pakistani victims of Greek ship tragedy has begun; So far only five of the deceased have been identified and approximately 35 remain missing.
The bodies of the five identified Pakistani victims are being repatriated to the country in phases.
Sources revealed that Muhammad Abid’s body arrived at Sialkot airport on Tuesday at 2 pm on flight QR0626. Similarly, the remains of Haji Ahmad arrived earlier at Sialkot airport on the same flight.
Another deceased person identified as Rehman Ali’s body is scheduled to arrive at Sialkot airport on January 1, 2025 at 2:00 p.m., also on flight QR0626.
