GUJRAT: At least five more cases have been registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against the human traffickers in Gujrat in the wake of the boat tragedy off the coast of Greece.

The number of local agents arrested by the FIA here is now nine with the arrest of another suspect in these cases.

So far, the DNA samples of at least 118 people belonging to the close family of the victims of tragedy from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts have been taken. The DNA reports are expected to help the Greek authorities to identify the dead bodies retrieved from the sea.

Irtaza Ansar Warraich, the station house officer of Gujrat FIA, told Dawn that 21 cases had so far been lodged against the human traffickers involved in sending illegal immigrants abroad who died in the latest tragic incident. He added that another agent, identified as Abrar, had been arrested while raids were consistently being made to arrest the other suspects involved in the human trafficking.

Tally of cases registered so far is 21, nine suspects arrested

The acting deputy director Gujrat FIA circle said the international mafia comprising the human traffickers from Pakistan, Egypt and Libya was involved in the human trafficking. He said a Libya-based notorious goldsmith, Asif Suniara, and his two brothers, natives of Gujrat city, were mainly running the racket with the help of their local sub-agents in the region and these sub-agents used to receive money from the people on their behalf to send them to Europe.

The FIA officer said the traffickers had established safe havens in Libya for the long stay of the illegal immigrants who would reach there through different countries after leaving Pakistan by air whereas the traffickers used to send them from Libya to Italy on boats.

It is learnt that the families of the victims of boat tragedy have now started filing complaints with the FIA for registration of cases against the human traffickers as the FIA initially complained about their reluctance for initiation of legal proceedings against such elements.

More cases have now been lodged against these traffickers on the complaint of families of the boat incident victims whereas initially some cases were registered on the report of the FIA officials in Gujrat.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023