March 24, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 23: A departmental inquiry launched by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to nab human traffickers among its ranks looks more like a cover up as senior officials are weaving a net around a female assistant sub-inspector (ASI) while dozens of blue-eyed boys remain untouched, sources told Dawn.

They said the FIA had started an inquiry on September 2006 after an intelligence agency found the FIA’s immigration staff at the country’s international airports involved in permitting a large number of Bengalis enter Pakistan illegally.

Certain highups of the agency picked up a woman ASI and tried to implicate her in human trafficking case.

According to available data, 23 officials of FIA’s immigration had cleared 380 Bengalis. Out of this number, only two were cleared by the female ASI between January and September 2006.

The sources said the woman ASI had been suspended in September, when her name appeared in a news item regarding human smuggling. Her senior colleagues put the blame on her as she was the only FIA official whose name became public.

On the other hand, a senior FIA official replaced the investigation officer probing the case for the last seven months after he made indecent remarks to the woman.

The sources said the investigation officer had a bad reputation regarding women and one of the deputy directors suggested that he should not handle the case.

The sources said the FIA’s immigration staff deployed at Islamabad International Airport took $100 to $500 to allow Bengalis to enter the country on fake travelling documents.