ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: Some 291 people were arrested till August this year while trying to go abroad on fake documents, it was officially learnt here on Saturday. According to the statistics compiled by the ministry, the number of persons trying to go abroad on fake documents have been decreasing gradually since 2003 due to the stringent steps taken by the government.

The figure for 2003 was 582 while the following year it was 523.

Special training courses were being imparted to immigration officers at various institutions in Pakistan and abroad to enhance their capability to detect forgeries in travel documents.

The machine readable passports have been introduced mainly to curb human error during the checking.

An advanced mechanical system of Personal Identification, Secure and Evolution System (PISCES) has been installed at the immigration check post for detection of stolen or forged passports.—APP