QUETTA: An accountability court on Friday sentenced two assistant directors of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) seven years each for issuing National Identity Cards (NIC) to foreigners.

The Quetta court also ordered a Rs. 80 lakh fine from Assistant Director Nadra Syed Ali Ahmed and Rizwan Aftab.

Each of them would have to pay Rs. 40 lakh as a fine during their imprisonment to the national exchequer.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested the two Nadra officers in June 2014 for issuing hundreds of NICs to foreigners.

"The accused had issued NICs to Afghan nationals," a NAB officer was interrogating the accused told Dawn.com. He declined to be named since he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The NAB officer stated that both assistant directors had issued hundreds of NICs to Afghan nationals in Quetta while taking large amounts of money from them.

The court convicted the accused under NAB ordinance. Nadra has already blocked thousands of suspected NICs in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan.

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A verification committee headed by Deputy Commissioner Quetta was also formed to verify the blocked NICs.