Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday dispelled rumours that 500,000 fake Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) were issued in Karachi during the last few years.

Nisar said 350,000 CNICs with various discrepancies had been identified and registered by Nadra.

“One hundred and seventy two thousand of these were promptly canceled,” he said, adding that efforts to ascertain the exact status of the remaining cards was underway.

Explore: Nadra to call holders of suspicious CNICs

He added that stringent action had already been taken against more than 600 Nadra employees who were found guilty of negligence or were facilitating in any manner unscrupulous elements.

The minister was in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority area, inaugurating two Nadra mega centres.

"A third Nadra mega centre would be inaugurated by the end of May in the SITE area of Karachi."

He assured that state of the art facilities will be made available and emphasised that equal attention would also be paid to ensure that a public-friendly and courteous attitude is adopted by Nadra staffers.

“Otherwise the entire exercise would be almost futile as buildings hold no meaning in themselves,” he remarked.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali is on a two-day visit to Karachi, where he is scheduled to have a series of meetings with officials of different law enforcement agencies, Sindh government authorities as well as the provincial leadership of PML-N.