GUJRAT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Gujranwala Zone, claims to have arrested 39 suspects out of the 63 booked on charges of human trafficking, during the month of August, 2024.

A senior FIA official told Dawn that the arrested suspects also included the two alleged human traffickers who were wanted in kidnapping the clients for ransom in Iran and Bulgaria.

These suspects also include six proclaimed offenders, while two of them were most-wanted fugitives arrested during the crackdown against human trafficking in the region, he added.

He said the suspect booked in August deprived innocent people of Rs120 million on the pretext of sending them abroad.

The official said the FIA also recovered fake Pakistani passports and travel documents used for sending people to Spain, Italy, Greece and United kingdom.

He said around 30 passengers were offloaded from different flights at Sialkot airport during the last months for traveling on fake documents.

He said scrutiny of documents of the passengers belonging to Gujranwala region has been enhanced at the airport.

The official added that challans against 49 human traffickers were sent to court in August.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the FIA claimed that the agency has lodged at least 21 cases of electricity theft and arrested 190 suspects in the last month, sending 60 such case challans to court.

He said that at least 36 new inquiries were initiated against the officials of the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) on the complaints of consumers, whereas a recovery of Rs80 million had also been made in different cases during the last month.

He said some 833 inquiries had been completed by the FIA Gujranwala Zone in August the last.

rain losses: The local administration is gathering data of losses due to rains during the last two months in Gujrat district, particularly the city and it’s outskirts.

In light of the data, the Punjab government will be requested to approve financial compensation for the affected, says

Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi at a meeting held here on Wednesday, after a visit to the affected areas. The commissioner said that the authorities were well aware of the situation both in urban and rural areas as arrangements were underway to drain out water.

He said five heavy pumping motors and the human resource were being moved to Gujrat from Gujranwala.He said all the staff of Municipal Corporation and local administration had been active in the field to resolve flooding issues.

Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Safdar Virk, Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Khizer Bhatti, Gujrat Assistant Commisioner Bilal Zubair and other officials also visited the affected areas.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2024