03 January 2004	Saturday	10 Ziqa'ad 1424

PESHAWAR, Jan 2: The Federal Investigation Agency is helping the US authorities to collect data about Pakistanis involved in various crimes as a part of the international campaign against terrorism, officials said.

"A special cell, named 'Finger Print Bureau,' has been established in the FIA headquarters in Islamabad, where computerized crime data is being kept before being transferred to the US," sources said.

According to them, the collection of the local criminal record began a year ago with a view to collecting data about Pakistanis involved in crimes, such as murders, terrorism, dacoities, narcotics trafficking and other small offences.

"So far, we have sent about 20,000 sets of fingerprints and other relevant details to the FIA's headquarters. Similar efforts are also being undertaken in other provinces," sources said.

The FIA cell is working in collaboration with the FBI, sources said, adding that the exercise is aimed at securing computerized data regarding criminals that could be used by the US to detect crimes against its installations inside and outside Pakistan besides helping in its efforts tof contain terrorism.

The FIA headquarters, they said, had issued especially designed forms, asking the local police to send them back after duly filling them to Islamabad.FIA officials, they said, visit jails, courts and police stations, obtaining fingerprints of criminals, no matter the severity of crimes.

"We take 20 impressions of fingers of each under-trial or convict prisoners on cards ... forwarding them to the FIA headquarters in Islamabad," sources said. In Islamabad, these cards are then scanned and images thus obtained are subsequently stored in computers, sources said.

Officials told this correspondent that neither the US embassy nor the FBI share their computerised data with Pakistani security agencies, adding it was a project exclusively launched by the US authorities to secure the record of criminals to protect its own long-term interests.

Sources said the FBI was training police officials from all the four provinces ensuring a smooth and error-free fingerprinting process. "Apart from Pakistanis, fingerprints of Afghan refugees are also obtained whenever they are found involved in crimes," sources said, adding presently they were only collecting data about criminals and later fingerprints of some other people may also be obtained. They did not elaborate in this regard.

Officials said the present form has several columns, including details like name, fathers' name, age, address, the nature of crime, identity card number, location of police station concerned and past record etc.