LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Multan Zone on Thursday arrested five suspects allegedly involved in illegally deducting money from funds meant for the beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

According to an FIA spokesperson, a crackdown was launched against individuals involved in deducting money from BISP beneficiaries.

The arrested suspects were identified as Zahid Abbas, Muhammad Shakeel, Shakeel Hussain, Khalid Hussain, and Muhammad Kamil. They were taken into custody during raids conducted in Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu.

The suspects were allegedly involved in unlawfully deducting between Rs1,000 and Rs1,500 per person as “commission” from financial assistance allocated to deserving women under the BISP.

During the raids, FIA officials recovered multiple national identity cards, registers, mobile phones, bank connect devices, and other relevant material believed to be linked to the fraud.

The FIA spokesperson said investigations were underway, and further arrests had not been ruled out as authorities were examining the recovered evidence to trace a suspected wider network involved in the scam.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2026