BAHAWALPUR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed on Wednesday to have taken 36 passengers into custody at Multan airport upon their arrival from Jeddah. The passengers were allegedly involved in illegal and suspicious activities during their stay in Saudi Arabia.

Out of the 36, as many as 14 were transferred to the FIA Circle Multan for further interrogation.

According to FIA officials, the Pakistani passengers had been arrested and jailed in Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in illegal activities. After their release from Saudi prisons, they were deported back to Pakistan.

Following a preliminary inquiry, the FIA detained 14 passengers for interrogation, including Bilal Hassan, Arshad Baig, Abdullah, Ismail Khan, Ayyaz Ali, and Ijaz Khan, while the remaining passengers were allowed to return to their homes.Meanwhile, the FIA, Multan, claimed to have arrested a human smuggler and drug trafficker Sabir Ali.

Sabir Ali had allegedly received millions of rupees to send a man and his wife to Saudi Arabia for Umrah on the pretext of securing them jobs.

The FIA officials claimed that Sabir Ali secretly concealed narcotics in the woman’s luggage without her knowledge. Upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia, the woman was arrested at the airport and later imprisoned. She died while in custody.

After the return of her husband to Pakistan, he filed a complaint with the FIA, leading to Sabir Ali’s arrest.

On Wednesday, the court handed Sabir Ali over to the FIA on a three-day physical remand for further investigation.In another case, the FIA cyber crime branch in Multan arrested one Jam Shair for his alleged involvement in child pornography.

According to FIA officials, the arrest was made following a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Acting on the complaint, the FIA cyber crime team raided Jam Shair’s residence in Muzaffargarh and arrested him.

The FIA claimed that child pornography material was found on his mobile phone, which was confiscated. Jam Shair was shifted to the FIA lock-up for further investigation.

FLEES: An under-trial prisoner involved in several heinous crimes managed to escape from police custody at Multan Kutchery on Wednesday.

Police said Gulghat ASI Ali Asghar along with other constable brought handcuffed Ramzan in the court of Multan civil judge. As the accused’s file was incomplete, the judge reprimanded the police. During this melee, the accused playing tricks with police party managed to flee with the handcuff from its custody. When the incident was brought to higher police officials’ notice, they suspended the police guard team members and ordered an inquiry.

SMUGGLING BID FOILED: The Multan customs enforcement team claimed to have foiled an attempt to smuggle into Pakistan imported laptops and tabs worth over Rs10 million at Multan airport on Wednesday.

A customs squad under the supervision of Deputy Collector Jamila Maryam checked Dubai cargo shipment which showed scrap in it. However, after thorough checking of the shipment, 87 imported laptops along with 18 tabs worth Rs10m were recovered from the scrap. Further investigation is under way.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024