ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to formally request the Saudi government to postpone the trial of a Pakistani couple allegedly arrested in a drug smuggling case.

Talking to the media after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the Pakistani mission in Riyadh was in touch with the Saudi authorities to ensure that no innocent person was punished.

He said the Saudi ambassador had assured Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani during a meeting that he would talk to the authorities concerned in this regard.

‘The government understands through preliminary reports that the couple is innocent and those who sent them to Saudi Arabia for Umra are the real culprits and, therefore, the cabinet has decided to approach the Saudi government so that no innocent person is punished,’ he added.

Kaira said Pakistani law-enforcement agencies were investigating into the matter and the real culprits would be brought to justice.

Dawn Staff Reporter in Karachi adds: Police have registered a case against a travel agent and his son for deliberately cheating at least three families who were arrested in Saudi Arabia for possessing heroin.

According to officials, the FIR (223/2009) under section 420/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was registered on the complaint of Raees Ahmed, father of Shumaila, who was arrested in Jeddah, along with her husband and five other persons.