Human smuggling: 51 FIA personnel removed in last 3 years, says ministry

ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry revealed that 51 employees of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were dismissed from services during the last three years over their alleged collusion with human smugglers.

The details submitted to the Senate revealed that 41 employees of FIA were dismissed from service in 2024, four in 2023 and six in 2022.

FIA has established, a dedicated Personnel and Internal Accountability Branch (PIAB) which functions under HR Directorate at HQs Islamabad.

The branch is mandated to initiate immediate departmental actions on receiving complaints against staff members of the agency. Similarly, criminal actions are also taken by the concerned zones on receiving complaints or tangible evidence against officials and officers of the department.

The FIA took stern criminal action against its officials after first boat incident dated 14.06.2023 and arrested 27 officials in seven cases registered in different FIA Zones including Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Quetta.

Furthermore, total of 110 departmental proceedings against FIA officials have been initiated, wherein, 48 officials have been dismissed from service, two officials compulsory retired and 13 officials have been awarded minor penalties.

The House was informed that 80,847 CNICs were impounded during the last five years including 28,645 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13,899 in Punjab, 14,076 in Sindh, 21,839 in Balochistan and 1,259 in Islamabad.

The Senate was informed that Capital Development Authority (CDA) will take appropriate action once the findings of the Inquiry Commission in two incidents occurred at Bhara Kahu Fly over, are communicated.

Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar told the House during question hour that two incidents occurred at the project site during the execution of work.

As per initial findings, the first incident was caused by the impact of an oversized load-carrying vehicle on the shuttering of Transom - 10. The second incident resulted from a lateral jerk of the 5th girder, leading to the tilting of the girders.

The House was informed that adequate safety arrangements were in place at the time of both incidents. Furthermore, initial examination established that these incidents were not due to any deficiencies in the quality of materials or workmanship.

Following the incidents, the prime minister constituted an Inquiry Commission, led by Shahid Khan, former secretary for Ministry of Interior, to investigate the collapse of the shuttering and girders.

However, the CDA has not been officially informed of the outcome of the inquiry. The CDA will take appropriate action once the findings are communicated. The minister said that Rs1.87 billion of the project is still pending.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025