GUJRANWALA: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested three suspected human traffickers who had sent four men from Gujranwala and Wazirabad to Turkey in exchange for a large amount of money. Those men were later abducted, allegedly by Kurdish pirates, who demanded Rs2 million each as ransom for their release.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, FIA Deputy Director Khalid Anees said Zeeshan, Usman and Abid of Dhulley area and Adeel of Wazirabad had approached Afzaal Ahmad and asked him to send them to Greece. Mr Ahmad and two of his colleagues took an initial deposit of Rs600,000 from the four men and agreed to take the remaining amount from their relatives.

The men arrived at Turkey’s border where they met Wasim Butt, who had been living in Turkey for several years and worked as Mr Ahmad’s agent there.

The men were later kidnapped by miscreants who tortured them and shot videos of their ordeal which they sent to their families on WhatsApp with a demand for Rs2 million as ransom for their release.

The FIA obtained the photographs from their families and examined the data. A team of FIA officials later raided a house where the traffickers lived and arrested them. Those arrested were identified as Afzaal Ahmad, the main suspect, Sohail Ahmad and Luqman Butt.

The FIA deputy director pointed out that the traffickers had a network in Pakistan and Turkey. He said the FIA would request the Turkish government to extradite their accomplices.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said on Tuesday that they were aware that four Pakistanis had been abducted from a Turkish vessel. The diplomatic missions of Pakistan in Ankara and Istanbul have taken necessary measures to apprise the Turkish authorities, who have extended cooperation. “We are in touch with the relevant quarters in Pakistan to gather further details in the matter,” he said.

Published in Dawn January 4th, 2017