The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claims to have arrested at least six more ‘human traffickers’ involved in illegally sending people to Libya, who later died in a boat accident there.
FIA has so far arrested 10 alleged human traffickers who belong to different areas of Gujrat district. Gujrat Deputy Director FIA Ghulam Sarwar Warraich said that one goldsmith, Saeed Ilyas of Gujarat city, Obaidullah of Murarian, Manshaullah of Bujpur, Hisham of Kharian and two others have been arrested.
Liaison wing was formed to arrest 78 criminals of Mandi Bahauddin who were active from abroad
He said that the two main suspects living in Libya, Hamza Saeed and Afaq, have been the ‘handlers’ of human traffickers and efforts are being made to bring them back to their country through legal action.
Mr. Warraich said the arrested smugglers were being investigated by the FIA authorities as they had received around Rs 2 million from the families of the victims of the boat tragedy to send them illegally to Europe.
Official sources said that so far the bodies of 14 victims, eight of them from Gujarat, two from Bhambhar district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and one each from Gujar Khan and Muridke, reached Pakistan during the last week. And they were buried in their native areas.
However, he said, six of the victims have not yet been traced and it is not known whether they died in the boat accident or not. According to sources, eight illegal immigrants were in the custody of the Libyan authorities since the boat accident on February 23.
He said more arrests are expected as searches are on to initiate legal action against those involved in the racket.
An FIA official said that Gujarat, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum and Wazirabad districts were among the “hotspots” of human trafficking as the majority of overseas Pakistanis belong to these districts. He added that some of these migrants provide financial and logistical support to their friends and relatives in settling abroad.
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