Prime accused of Greece boat tragedy arrested in Sargodha

SARGODHA: The prime accused of Greece boat tragedy was arrested from Phularwan area of Sargodha.

It was disclosed after the arrest of Yasir Bilal that the accused was affiliated with an international network of human smuggling, police sources said.

Phularwan police arrested accused Yasir and recovered illegal arms from his possession. The interrogation from the suspect revealed that he had been prime accused of Greece boat incident.

The police, after fulfilling some formalities, handed over the accused to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The accused had received millions of rupees from the victims of the Greece boat tragedy and facilitated them to board the ill-fated boat that capsized off Greece coast, leaving several youth drowned.

He had been nominated as key accused in two FIRs of the FIA and was at large after the incident. The law enforcement agencies were searching search for his accomplices.

Last year in June, an Italy-bound fishing trawler reportedly carrying at least 800 people — including hundreds of Pakistanis — capsized off Greece. Only 104 people are known to have survived in the incident.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed authorities concerned to hold an inquiry into the human trafficking that led to the tragic incident of migrants’ shipwreck near Greece with several Pakistani nationals onboard.

He had directed concerned authorities for an immediate crackdown on agents involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking and called for bringing them to justice.