LAHORE, March 23: The Federal Investigation Agency is in a fix after the police’s refusal to provide it with a place in Police Lines to set up ‘makeshift’ offices.

The FIA became ‘homeless’ following a suicide bomber ran a mini-truck loaded with huge quantity of explosives into its Temple Road building on March 11, killing 24 people (including 16 of its officials).

A source told Dawn on Sunday that the FIA had requested the police higher-ups to give it a place in the Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines so that it could set up its offices till the completion of its new building on Temple Road (by June-end). The police, however, refused to entertain the request, leaving the agency with no other option but to consider housing its provincial headquarters at a ‘private’ place, he added.

He said the police higher-ups informed the FIA that there wasn’t any ‘extra space’ in the Police Lines for the FIA offices. He further maintained that some FIA officers were not in favour of setting up its Lahore offices either in a residential or commercial area because they believed that it would not only disturb their (residents’) ‘privacy and peace’ but also could be a potential security threat.

The FIA is also pondering over establishing the offices of different wings at separate places in Lahore. As it is widely considered that the Special Investigation Group of the agency was the main target of terrorists on March 11, it may set up offices at a ‘secret place’ because it has ‘nothing to do with the general public’.

Before the attack on the FIA building, new offices of the anti-cyber crime unit which has recently been upgraded as the anti-cyber crime cell after the promulgation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, had been set up in the Cantonment area. The cell is being shifted there shortly.

On the other hand, the offices of the passport and crime cells will likely to be set up in one building. The FIA director (Lahore) has already started working at an office at the old airport and the passport cell and crime cell offices may be established there.

Meanwhile, an FIA official told this reporter that the Communication and Works Department was of the view that only the damaged structure of the agency’s building should be demolished while Nespak opined that the foundation of the building had weakened. However, he said the final decision would be taken after the complete survey of the departments. A number of people, who visit the agency for redress of their grievances especially in human smuggling cases, are perturbed over the situation. An average 50 to 60 people visited the passport circle daily before the attack to register complaints against the people accused of charging hundreds and thousands of rupees from their dear ones on the promise of sending them abroad.

Besides, the cell which also handles a number of cases of offloaded and deported persons on a daily basis now refers the cases to the Gujranwala passport cell. The investigation of a number of cases and inquiries has come to a halt owing to this reason.

The FIA building disaster has also provided an opportunity to the people involved in manufacturing and sale of spurious drugs to operate freely, it is learnt.