ISLAMABAD - An internal enquiry of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) finds out involvement of a number of officials of the agency’s immigration wing in human smuggling and DG FIA is not only reluctant to take action against them but also most of them are enjoying the same posts, sources in the ministry of interior and FIA informed.
Even Acting Director General (DG) FIA Ghalib Ali Bandesha has turned a deaf ear to a displeasure note of ministry of interior in this connection due to unknown reasons. Official sources informed The Nation that Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan had censured the FIA top boss asking why an enquiry initiated in October 2013 against FIA’ immigration wing for their alleged involvement in human smuggling was not being completed with conclusive recommendations.
Now internal enquiry report of FIA that was completed recently, available with The Nation, has unearthed how its immigration wing was involved in facilitating passengers travelling abroad but FIA higher authorities had so far taken no action against such officials.
The DG FIA under the directions of Interior Minister Nisar had launched an internal enquiry through FIA’s internal accountability units at all its four zonal offices on some credible reports of its immigration wing’s involvement in human smuggling.
The final report says that not only some passengers were allowed to travel abroad on fake documents but names of some of them were also not entered in the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS). It further says that immigration wing officials upon the deportation of such inadmissible passengers allowed them to go home again without making their entries in IBMS and taking any legal action required under the law. The IBMS is a system installed at all the airports and land routes of the country and keeps record of the travelling history of passengers travelling to and for Pakistan.
The enquiry report dispatched to interior minister during the last month says, “Scrutiny of the record revealed that the following passengers were allowed to travel on fake/forged documents from BBIAP (Benazir Bhutto International Airport) Islamabad by the immigration staff.”
Interestingly, most of the immigration staff held guilty in the enquiry for human smuggling during 2012 to 2013 are now working at the same positions at the Islamabad airport and FIA higher authorities have not even bothered to remove them from their posts. The enquiry report finds guilty many shift in-charges, general checkers and counter officials of immigration wing deputed at Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad.
The report has allegedly found guilty FIA inspectors Shehzed Zafar, Irfan Azeem, and Shahid Nawaz Warriach (repatriated to parent police department) of immigration wing under whose nose passengers used to travel abroad on fake documents. The two inspectors are still deputed at the same airport.
Sub-Inspector (SI) Raja Wajid (shift in-charge), and SI Babar Khan have also been found allegedly involved in facilitating fake travellers, besides assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) Musarrat Kashif, Farhad-un-Nabi, Jalil Abbas (dismissed in case of facilitation of Afghan nationals to travel to UK on fake documents), Amanullah, M Wali, Saeeda Bibi, Memoona Kausar, Sadaf Naureen and Humera Gul.
Head constables (HCs) Bashir, Aftab Ahmad, Sajid Muhammad, Muhammad Aslam and Mazhar Hussain have also been held responsible in the report.
The report had held guilty foot constables (FCs) including Mahboob Elahi, Sajid Munir (dismissed in case of facilitation of Afghan nationals), Muhammad Naheed, Mumtaz Akbar (dismissed in case of facilitation of Afghan nationals), Waseem Iqbal, Zafar Khan, Abdul Ghaffar, Samiullah, Niaz Mir, Jehangir Kazmi, M Faheem, Khalid Salahuddin, M Faheem, M Rafiq, Jamil Shehzad, Jehangir Kazmi, Faisal Aziz, Asma Butt, Safeer Hussain, Ali Akbar, Ejaz Taheem and M Imran.
“The passengers namely Hameed Ahmed, Muhammad Nadeem, Gul Nawaz Khan, Bilal Ahmed, Faisal BAshir, Tariq Pervez, Adnan Khan and Abdul Salam were allowed to travel on invalid documents by the abovementioned immigration staff of FIA BBIAP Islamabad,” said the report, adding that some of these passengers and others were even allowed to travel without making their entries in the IBMS.
The enquiry officer said that the concerned investigation officers (IOs) of FIA’ Anti-human Trafficking Cell (AJTC) did not conduct proper investigation on merit to determine the role of agents and concerned immigration staff in the travel of passengers on invalid documents from BBIAP Islamabad.
No one was available from FIA for comments, as the agency had no official spokesman.