Eight PIA officials in trouble for facilitating stay of Indians

LAHORE: Eight PIA officials have been found guilty of providing alleged illegal one-night stay to more than 130 Indian passengers of two different flights last year in a sensitive area of the city due to flight delay, sources in FIA sources revealed to The News on Wednesday.
Talking to this correspondent, the FIA officials said it had been proved in an inquiry that some PIA employees had provided alleged illegal stay to over 130 Indian passengers of two different PIA flights (Lahore-New Delhi) in a sensitive area near Lahore Cantonment in October 2014.
Their stay was against the immigration rules as the PIA staff neither informed the FIA about them nor sought the required permission from the quarters concerned for providing stay out of the airport premises. The Indian passengers from New Delhi were flying to Saudi Arabia with a stopover in Pakistan.
According to sources, the eight PIA officials found guilty in the inquiry team’s final report include two passenger supervisors, a duty officer, an accounts assistant, and a senior official of PIA’s Management Information System (MIS).It is also learnt that the hotel where the passengers had stayed was owned by the female official and her husband.
The inquiry team has recommended registration of FIRs against the seven male accused officials and departmental action against the female accused. The implementation of the recommendation of the inquiry team was likely in a few days, the sources maintained.
It is also learnt that the Interior Ministry has prepared a list of negative countries whose passengers cannot be allowed to leave the airport premises and India is among those. The FIA was investigating the matter when a top security agency raised the matter, asking how Indians were allowed to stay in the provincial metropolis without getting prior security permission.
The report was prepared not only after thoroughly going through the relevant stuff for months but also recording the statements of PIA staffers. After disagreeing with their statements, the inquiry team has recommended registration of FIR(s) against them.
When contacted, PIA General Manager Amir Memon confirmed the ongoing inquiry and said he had no latest information on the matter. He, however, could not confirm that the hotel where Indians were provided stay was owned by the female official and her husband, and also if the PIA staffers had sought any prior permission from the relevant authorities to facilitate the Indian passengers.