PESHAWAR: The Federal Investigation Agency on Monday revealed the arrest of a Pakistani national for crossing the Torkham border on an Afghan passport and said the detainee was allegedly involved in anti-state activities.

Deputy director of the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) Imran Shahid told a presser here that the accused, Umar Dawood Khattak, a resident of Karak, was taken into custody on Aug 21 at Torkham as he was entering Pakistan on an Afghan passport.

He said the accused was handed over to the AHTC for identity verification.

The official said initial investigation revealed that the accused had a Pakistani passport and identity card but he had also obtained an Afghan passport and tazkira (identity card).

He said the law-enforcement agencies had placed the name of the accused on the Exit Control List under the International Border Management System.

Mr Shahid quoted the accused telling investigators that he had gone to Afghanistan in 2013 and secured Afghan nationality.

He said the accused initially worked as an organisational development manager with the Afghanistan National Reconstruction Coordination but in 2014, he founded the Pashtun Liberation Army to discredit Pakistan’s national institutions at the behest of hostile agencies.

“The accused’s passport showed that he had travelled to India as an Afghan national forfive times. During his stay in India and Afghanistan, he recorded several videos to incite Pashtuns against Pakistani security agencies. These videos are available on the video-sharing site, YouTube,” he said.

The official said the FIA had registered an FIR under sections 418, 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections 3 and 4 of the Exit Control List Ordinance, 1981.

He said the accused was being interrogated for involvement in anti-state activities.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2019