65 FIA officials blacklisted after boat tragedy

LAHORE/KARACHI: The prime minister issued orders for completing all measures against human smugglers in two weeks.

Also, an inquiry report on the Greece boat tragedy of June 14, 2023, has been released by a committee, formed by the Prime Minister’s Office, recommending action against 65 officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over their negligence and misconduct. 

The blacklisted officials include three deputy directors, two assistant directors, four inspectors, 15 sub-inspectors, 13 assistant sub-inspectors, 20 head constables, eight constables, and a clerk. Among the deputy directors, Imran Ranjha, Zahid Mahmood, and Mubashir Ahmad Tirmizi have been named. Abu Bakar Usman and Irfan Babar are the two assistant directors listed. The report further named four FIA inspectors, including two women, Shaista Imdad and Nazish Sehar, along with Irfan Ahmed Memon and Ibrahim Khan. Among the 15 blacklisted sub-inspectors, women officers Nadia Parveen, Saba Jafri, Shagufta Akbar, and Samina Sadiq are included, along with others such as Sajid Ismail, Imran Warraich, Mahmood Butt, and Suleiman Liaquat. Additionally, the report identified 13 ASIs, including Faisal Imran, Muhammad Sagheer, and Syed Asad Ali, along with others. Among the 20 head constables, names such as Mushtaq Khattak, Atif Shaukat, Irfan Javed, Ali Shehryar, Raja Sunil, Aamir Ali, Yousaf Ali, and Adnan Younas are highlighted. Ten constables, including Muhammad Iqbal, Rab Nawaz, Bushra Bibi, Maqsood Ahmed, and Faisal Mushtaq, are also named in the findings. The report underscored systemic issues within the FIA and called for strict accountability to prevent such incidents in future. An FIA immigration team is on its way to the African country of Mauritania to investigate the Afzal Nadeem Dogar Morocco boat accident. According to sources, the team has been formed under the leadership of ADG Immigration, which includes other members along with them. The immigration team will investigate the Moroccan boat accident in Mauritania. The initial immigration investigation into the Moroccan boat accident has traced the 20 passengers of the boat who left for Senegal or Saudi Arabia from Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi airports. According to the investigation, Sufyan Ali, left for Senegal on August 4, Ghulam Mustafa on July 31, Syed Mehtab Al Hasan on April 24, Rais Afzal on September 16 and Ali Hasan on August 4 on visit visas from Faisalabad on Fly Dubai flights. Hamid Shabbir left for Senegal on August 27 on a temporary resident visa. Waseem Khalid went to Senegal on August 2 while Syed Muhammad Abbas Kazmi went to Senegal from Faisalabad as a visitor on September 8; Imran Iqbal, June 16; Uzair Basharat, May 2; Qasnain Haider, June 25; Mudassar Hussain, June 20; Syed Badar Mohiuddin, July 9 and Gul Shamir left Karachi for Senegal on visit and visitor visas on August 2 by Ethiopian Airlines. Muhammad Waqas travelled to Senegal from Lahore Airport on October 3, Qaiser Iqbal on September 27, Sajjad Ali on October 6 and Ikram Muhammad on September 30. According to the FIA investigation, Mohammad Adeel and Mujahid Ali left for Saudi Arabia on September 18 on a Saudi Airlines flight from Lahore on Umrah visas. According to sources, during the initial investigation, the departure of the passengers from Pakistan to Senegal or Saudi Arabia has been confirmed. Nine of them belonged to Gujrat and five of them were rescued while four died. Three persons of Mandi Bahauddin were rescued while three died. three passengers of Sheikhupura were rescued. One person from Gujranwala was killed and one person from Sialkot was rescued.