Investigation agency arrests suspect in connection with trafficking Pakistanis to Myanmar
Aug 10, 2023
Islamabad [Pakistan], August 10 : Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Islamabad arrested an accused man for his alleged involvement in smuggling Pakistanis to Myanmar, ARY News reported on Thursday.
An accused man, identified as Naseeb Shah has been arrested from Mansehra during a raid conducted by investigation officer Muhammad Waseem along with his team.
According to the FIA Spokesperson, the suspect has received millions of rupees to transport innocent citizens to Thailand and then smuggled persons to Burma.
“The victims were abducted in Burma and then subjected to brutal physical torture. The human traffickers used to film the videos of the victims and received USD 5,000 ransom from family of each victim before releasing them.”
The FIA investigators found the transfer of the ransom money to the human traffickers via illegal means. Naseeb Shah was nabbed after being spotted by one of his arrested accomplices.
The FIA spokesperson said that raids are being conducted to arrest other culprits. A case has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway, reported ARY News.
A similar incident happened earlier where on June 14, dozens of migrants and refugees on board the trawler that sank off Greece's Peloponnese peninsula, killed at least 78 people.
While investigating the Greece boat tragedy case, the FIA arrested three more human traffickers during the ongoing countrywide crackdown.
FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Gujarat arrested three human traffickers – identified as Arshadullah, Mubashir Nazir and Umar Hayat – from Mandi Bahauddin and Malakwal.
In a statement, the FIA spokesperson said the suspects were allegedly involved in sending Pakistanis to Europe illegally. “They have also received huge millions of Rupees to send the citizens to Europe,” the spokesman added.
The raiding teams also recovered several videos from the cellphones of arrested suspects, wherein migrants can be seen crossing the border on the boat, as per ARY News.
The spokesperson said the suspects have uploaded the videos on multiple social media platforms ‘in a bid to attract citizens for travelling to Europe illegally’.
