July 14, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 13: The interior ministry has formed a joint investigation team to probe into the human smuggling cases of Malik Bashiruddin, a proclaimed offender who was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency’s passport cell on June 25, sources told Dawn.

They said Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat and other top officials of the ministry were not satisfied with the investigations so far carried out by the FIA Karachi and Lahore as they could not achieve any significant breakthrough.

The ministry had decided that the team would comprise representatives of all the civil law enforcement agencies except the FIA, sources said.

Some authorities suspected involvement of some FIA officials in human trafficking and believe that it was in connivance with them that the accused had sent over 100 people to various countries on fake documents, sources said.

They said a six-day remand of the accused ended on July 14 and the FIA, Karachi, had failed to get any incriminating information against him.

Officials believed that the accused had a vast human smuggling network within and outside the country, the sources said.

The FIA, Lahore, kept the accused in custody for several days before sending him to Karachi without obtaining any significant clue about his business.

The accused, who was booked on the basis of information given by some passengers travelling on fake documents, is wanted in 12 human smuggling cases registered in Lahore and Karachi.