LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Multan Zone, claimed on Friday to have arrested suspects allegedly involved in illegal hawala business, bribery and unlawful residence during multiple operations conducted in Bahawalpur and Khanpur.

According to an FIA spokesperson, the operations were carried out on the directions of FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar and Multan Zone Director Ataur Rehman as part of an ongoing crackdown on financial crimes, corruption and illegal immigration.

In one operation, the FIA Bahawalpur Circle arrested a suspect identified as Muhammad Javed for his alleged involvement in an illegal hundi/hawala money transfer network.

Officials said the suspect was taken into custody from Bahawalpur.

During the raid, FIA officials recovered lists of hawala order distributions, bank records, ATM cards and a mobile phone containing material related to the illegal financial transactions.

Authorities said the suspect had been operating an unauthorised money transfer system that bypassed formal banking channels. He was taken into custody and further investigation has been initiated. In another action, an FIA team detained two Afghan nationals during a raid at Lunda Bazaar in Khanpur. The suspects identified themselves as Dewa Khan and his son, Najibullah.

According to officials, both men failed to produce a documentary proof of Pakistani citizenship. During initial interrogation, they admitted that they were Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan illegally.

The FIA registered a case against them. In a separate development, the FIA arrested a government official on charges of receiving a bribe during a trap raid conducted under the supervision of Magistrate Tahir Ghani.

Accused Muhammad Abdul Qadir Hassan Kharal serving at the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park under the Ministry of Defence, was allegedly caught red-handed while receiving a bribe of Rs200,000. The suspect could not provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the recovered amount.

The accused was taken into custody and further investigation into the case has been initiated.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026