The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Saturday claimed to have arrested 20 human smugglers including four proclaimed offenders (POs) and a government official. An FIA spokesman said these criminals were arrested during its ongoing provincial crackdown against human smugglers, agents and other hardcore criminals. Among the arrested ones, he said, accused Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Qaiser Mehmood, Muhammad Khaliq and Riaz Shareef were identified as proclaimed offenders.
The spokesman said an initial investigation into the matter suggested that the accused human smugglers were involved defrauding people of heavy amounts on the pretext of sending them to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada and England for employment.
He said an accused, identified as Babar Hussain, was involved in issuing fake CNICs to Afghan Nationals, adding another accused Khalid Mehmood, a government servant, was also arrested for having a passport without NOC and travelling abroad without ex-Pakistan leave. Similarly, another notorious human smuggler Muhammad Idrees Paracha was also apprehended from Jaranwala who was wanted by FIA Faisalabad in five FIRs registered against him, the spokesman added.