LAHORE: A judicial magistrate at district courts on Thursday remanded a suspect involved in human trafficking into the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) custody on five-day physical remand.

The FIA arrested the accused, Shahid Aslam, from Lahore International Airport upon his return from Dubai.

The accused had been declared a proclaimed offender along with other suspects, Rashid Aslam and Ashraf Khan.

Investigating Officer (IO) Muhammad Hamza informed the magistrate that the suspects were involved in a visa fraud.

The IO stated that the accused defrauded the complainant, Faraz Khan, of Rs8 million in the name of an Australian visa.

He said the accused persons fabricated the details of a US citizen to generate a fake Australian visa for the complainant.

The IO requested a 10-day physical remand of the accused for further investigation and recovery of the embezzled amount.

However, the judicial magistrate granted a five-day physical remand of the accused, Shahid Aslam.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2025