ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has conducted a series of successful operations across the country, leading to the arrest of a notorious human trafficker, a murder suspect wanted for six years, and numerous individuals involved in illegal immigration and electricity theft.
In a major breakthrough, the FIA Gujranwala Zone arrested Asif Ali Jajja, a key member of the infamous Jajja gang, from Sialkot. Jajja was wanted in four separate cases related to the recent Greece boat tragedy, where many Pakistanis lost their lives. According to the FIA spokesman, Jajja, a close relative of another arrested gang member Usman Jajja had been in hiding for months. He is accused of extorting millions of rupees from multiple victims with the promise of sending them to Europe via the ill-fated boat.
In a separate operation, the FIA Composite Circle Gwadar arrested 22 individuals attempting to illegally travel to Iran by sea. The arrested suspects — comprising 13 from Punjab, seven from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two from Sindh — were apprehended in Jiwani and border crossing Gabd PB 250. Initial investigations revealed that they planned to travel to other countries from Iran. Cases have been filed against the suspects, and further investigation is under way.
The FIA also stopped several passengers attempting to travel abroad using fraudulent documents and visas at various airports. At Faisalabad Airport, an individual named Bilal Amjad was offloaded from a flight to Serbia after being caught with a fake visa. He had paid Rs2 million to an agent for the fraudulent document and has been handed over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle for further action and to identify the agent.
At Sialkot Airport, Arsalan Zafar was offloaded from a flight to South Africa. He was using a forged South African passport of another person, Jaffar Iqbal. At Peshawar Airport, 16 young passengers were offloaded from a flight to Saudi Arabia. They were travelling on Umrah visas but intended to find work illegally. The passengers, who had no knowledge of Umrah rituals and carried only a small amount of cash, admitted to paying Rs350,000 each to an agent in Karak.
In a coordinated effort with Interpol, the FIA National Central Bureau (NCB) arrested Saddam Ali, a fugitive wanted for the murder of nine people. Ali, who was sought by Punjab Police for six years, was arrested in Saudi Arabia and brought back to Islamabad Airport. He had fled the country in 2019 after the murders, which occurred on Eid. A Red Notice had been issued for his arrest. He has now been handed over to Punjab Police for legal proceedings.
The FIA Composite Circle Larkana also took action against electricity theft. A raid on the Sachal fuel station on Shikarpur Bypass uncovered a massive electricity theft operation. The station was found to be illegally bypassing its meter and stealing 6.68 kilowatts of electricity directly from the main supply line, causing a loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer. The FIA has registered a case against seven suspects, including the fuel station managers and two officials from Sukkur Electric Power Company. Evidence has been collected, and the illegal connections have been disconnected.