SIALKOT
Human trafficking is on the rise with the number of swindlers involved in the business shooting up day by day due to lack of effective legal action against them, it is learnt.
Thus, the human traffickers are becoming influential and their illegally activities including sending the people abroad illegally are increasing in Sialkot district.
FIA officials said that there were more than 600 travel agencies working in Gujranwala Division out of which over 500 agencies were unregistered and were indulged in human trafficking by sending the people abroad illegally after extorting handsome amounts. Meanwhile, the arrest of big human traffickers has also become a big challenge for the FIA. The situation is becoming alarming besides leaving question marks on the performance of the law enforcing agencies.
Local people demanded that the law enforcing agencies including Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should ensure quick action against the human traffickers and travel agencies when they launch attractive advertisement campaigns for the purpose.
In 2014, the plundering of Rs330 million by a Daska-based travel agent from the thousands of people by offering them lucrative Umrah packages, became the second biggest financial scam after the Double Shah in Gujranwala Division.
Thousands of affectees of the Umrah scam from Daska, Sambrial, Uggoki, Pasrur, Shakargarh, Noor Kot and surrounding areas are still disappointed about the return of their amounts to them after recovery from the fleeing travel agent Ikram Mughal.
The accused had fled Dubai after plundering Rs330 from the affectees. They said that the affectees of Double Shah financial scam were still waiting for their amounts. Thus, they are also disappointed about the early return of their amounts after arresting the fleeing the accused.
They also expressed grave concern over the slow investigation by FIA into the financial scam due to which the hopes of the recovery of their amounts were dying. They said that FIA had registered 147 cases against Ikram Mughal. It had also seized 4,000 passports, besides arresting two companions of the accused.
They raised the questions on the performance of FIA, saying that the accused had been running the business for the last 15 years by launching massive advertisement campaign in newspapers, displaying giant hoardings in the region, and through cable TV networks.
They said that the FIA should have checked the illegal practice before the scam. They added that the story ends when a human traffickers or travel agent flees abroad after plundering millions of rupees and it becomes very hard for the law enforcers to reach abroad to arrest the accused.
In July 2013, Daska based educationist-turned-human trafficker Subha Sadiq had fled to Germany after plundering Rs10 million from local people by showing them the golden dreams of their lucid future in abroad. The accused is yet to be arrested and the affectees are waiting for their extorted amounts.
The main accused has not yet been arrested by the FIA despite its repeated claims. The affectees including Usman, Zeeshan and Saleem accused that the FIA’s delayed action against the gang of human traffickers in Daska paved the way for escaping the main accused Subha Sadiq to Germany.
In Daska during 2013, some local educationists had adopted a “noble” way to run their illegal business of sending the people abroad. They had mostly victimised their innocent students studying at their private educational academy they had established at Daska several years ago.
The accused teachers-turned-human traffickers showed theme golden dreams of their future in abroad and they used to convince their innocent students for going abroad by paying them heavy amounts. Subha Sadiq was the head of the gang.The FIA officials said that the accused had been using their private educational academy to run their illegal business.
At his private educational academy in Daska, he used to convince his students to go abroad instead of imparting them education.
FIA officials said that the noose around the unregistered travel agencies have been further tightened.
The officials said that the FIA was making contacts with Interpol to ensure early arrest of Ikram Mughal from Dubai, claiming that the accused would be arrested soon.