RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has contested media reports that a Pakistani man arrested in Hungary was wanted by Interpol in 70 murder cases.

FIA Islamabad Director Tariq Nawaz Malik told Dawn: “The accused was not wanted by Interpol in 70 cases as his warrants for arrest were issued only against three cases for which he was wanted,” he said.

The 35-year-old fugitive will be extradited to Pakistan in the first week of December, once his provincial detention has been completed.

The FIA is uncertain whether the suspect is wanted by law enforcement in any cases related to terrorism. Interpol Islamabad has also released a police sketch of the suspect.

According to FIA sources, the suspect has been identified as Atif Zaman and was wanted in three criminal cases regarding abetting murder and armed robbery registered with the Gujranwala police.

The suspect is a Gujranwala resident and was booked by the Alipur Chatta Gujranwala police for his alleged involvement in abetting murder in June 2015. After he left the country, the local police in September 2016 sought Interpol’s help in his arrest and extradition.

According to the FIA, he was also involved in two armed robbery cases registered with the Alipur Chatta police in 2014 and 2015.

FIA Interpol Islamabad contacted Interpol headquarters for red notices to be issued against Mr Zaman, which were then circulated all over the member countries.

Mr Zaman was first traced to Dubai and later to Serbia and Austria, but he could not be arrested. A senior FIA official said Hungarian authorities informed the FIA on Oct 25 that the Pakistani fugitive wanted by Interpol Islamabad had been traced by Hungarian police to Bacs-Kiskun County on Oct 24.

Interpol Budapest sought confirmation and information on the fugitive, which they were provided on the directives of FIA Director General Bashir Ahmed.

“Interpol in Hungary was provided copies of the cases registered against the accused, and other relevant things they needed,” a senior FIA official said, adding they had no information on whether the suspect had been involved in any terrorism-related cases.

The Pakistani authorities in Islamabad have also been informed that the suspect was produced in a court in Hungary, which ordered his provincial detention until Dec 5 for extradition.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2017