Nadra identifies 8,200 intruders in its database

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in its witch-hunt against foreigners, particularly Afghan nationals, registered as Pakistani citizens has so far found some 8,200 intruders who have been registered as Pakistanis, The News has learnt.

Nadra, on the orders of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, is re-verifying all the 105 million computerised national identity cards (CNICs) issued so far by the authority and it has got only six months to do so. The move came in the wake of disclosures that slain Taliban chief Mulla Mansour was a ‘registered’ Pakistani national.

Well-placed sources in the Ministry of Interior told this correspondent that ever since Nadra has introduced SMS service asking people to report if there is any intruder in their family, the authority has been informed by 21,800 citizens that there was an intruder in their family registered with Nadra. The sources said that on the 21,800 reported cases, over 20,700 calls have been placed and 19,500 calls have been successfully handled. 

Total intruders identified so far are 8,200 of which 5,600 intruders have been analysed by Nadra through cross checks and over 300 cases have been referred to agencies. The sources said that upon the reports of agencies, 173 foreigners so far have been validly identified in the database of Pakistanis while all other cases are under scrutiny at regional levels.

The sources said that Nadra has received over 700,000 SMS on its given helpline number i.e. 8008 which sends the names of family members of a particular CNIC sent on the number. “Nadra only replies to those SMS which are sent from the SIM registered against the same CNIC about which the query is asked,” the sources added. 

The sources said that the Pakistanis have shown maturity during the re-verification campaign as only 180 cases of false reporting have been found of which too, many pressed the wrong option in reply to the SMS sent by Nadra which is taken as a positive sign that the citizens are cooperating with the government in a bid to identify Afghan nationals registered as Pakistanis.

The sources said that in some cases, people had hidden their second marriages and their scions/spouses reported extra members in the family tree. “In some cases, nephews, nieces and cousins are registered under one family head name but all of them are Pakistanis,” the sources mentioned.

All the CNICs will be re-verified and doubtful will be sent to regional offices and agencies for further scrutiny and after satisfaction of being alien, the CNIC will be blocked. In the past three years, Nadra has blocked some 29,000 illegal, fake and dubious CNICs. 

“We will target 25 million family trees (comprising 105 million CNIC holders) during the re-verification process and it is not an easy task. Fake cards were issued after inserting the names of illegal persons in family trees,” the sources said. If any official is found involved in any irregularity, he would not only face dismissal but also 14 years imprisonment under the law. And, fake cards or passports hiders would face seven years imprisonment.