DERA GHAZI KHAN-The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) conducted two successful raids in the city and arrested various human traffickers and mouney launderers.
A team of FIA Multan raided the Regional Passport Office DG Khan, on a citizen's complaint of gratification. The team red-handed nabbed Assistant Director Rao Abdul Islam, Lower Division Clerk (LDC) Shahaud-Din and agent Tariq Gurchani, who were allegedly receiving bribe from the complainant Iqbal. In the presence of judicial Magistrate. The bribe money was recovered from the accused. Accused were looting applicants of passport since long, and also involved in immoral activities.
Later, FIA Multan team headed by Inspector/SHO FIA Ansar Abbas conducted raids in different parts of city and arrested four people involved in illegal transaction of money including foreign currency through Hawala and Hundi. The raids were conducted on the directions of Director FIA Punjab and Deputy Director FIA Multan Faraz Ahmad Khan. Record regarding hundi /hawala business had been recovered and four accused namely Akbar, Khalid, Shah Nawaz and Muhammad Zubair were arrested. Three FIRs were registered against the accused and investigations were in progress.
Every year, thousands of South Punjab youth try to illegally migrate to Middle East by sea boats via Karachi, Balochistan, Iran and Oman while most of them are shot or kept by law enforcement agencies of Iran and Oman. Human trafficking from Dera Ghazi Khan Division and one district RehimYar Khan of Bahawalpur division is order of the day mainly due to poverty and unemployment.
Moreover, thousands of citizens of DG Khan settled abroad send billions of rupees annually as foreign exchange reserve through banks or hundi /hawala. Due to big attraction for going aboard, corruption and fraud has become ordinary thing between the passport officials, travellers' agents and hundi agents.
The FIA Multan Zone covers 42 million populations of 14 districts of four divisions Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur and D.G. Khan and is multi-faceted agency dealing with matters of immigration, human trafficking, and protection of intellectual property rights, cyber-crime, money laundering, narcotics, terrorism and economic crime.
"Due to its huge jurisdiction, FIA Multan Zone could not completely to control the crimes. Thousands of cases of corruption, fraud and inquires of different departments are lying pending still now. Unfortunately, it is functioning on its organizational structure of 1975. So FIA should be overhauled with new structure now," the people said.
Seeing problems of more than 42 million people of Multan zone, especially worst position of Bahawalpur and DG Khan divisions, people are demanding new setup of FIA offices at every divisional level according to population and area distance for stoppage of corruption of federal officials, smuggling of human trafficking, illegal immigration and elimination of "Hundi" business.
When contacted, Deputy Director FIA Multan Faraz Ahmad Khan said that a summary report of new setup of FIA offices is underway at The Ministry of Interior Pakistan Islamabad. He hoped that it would be approved very soon.