GUJRAT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has removed the deputy chief protocol officer (DCPO), who headed the Foreign Affairs Liaison Office (FALO), Gujrat, as well as the official, who was the complainant in the case of Rs4 million theft at his residence, following a high-level probe.

Official sources say that Ms Khirat, who had been the head of Gujrat FALO as DCPO and an assistant protocol officer (ACPO) Aamir Shaukat Goraya had been removed from their posts.

The sources say that the removals came in the wake of an inquiry into the Rs4 million theft at the residence of two contingent officials of FALO located in Umar Street, Jattuwakal, in the precincts of Gujrat civil lines police on March 12, 2026.

The ministry, on a temporary basis, has posted MoFA Lahore region office ACPO Muhammad Asad, as the new in charge of Gujrat FALO, they add. The sources say that a high-ranking officials team of MoFA had visited Gujrat FALO, besides holding a meeting with some senior officials of Gujrat police to ascertain the facts regarding the theft case and charges of corruption being leveled against the officials of FALO by the public.

They say that the removal of both senior officials, who had the authority to attest the documents and issue of an authentication certificate called ‘apostille’, had been made following the initial report filed by the MoFA inquiry team.

However, a source says, another official, also having the attestation authority, and a couple of other junior officials, who have been posted at Gujrat FALO, are still working on their posts despite of the public allegations of exploitation and corruption.

The source says that after the initiation of inquiry by MoFA into the charges of corruption by officials, the ratio of applicants being accommodated at the Gujrat FALO had also almost doubled.

Some applicants allege that some officials at Gujrat FALO were charging up to Rs21,000 per apostille and Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 for attestation of each document through their agents as bribe. Usually, up to 500 apostilles are being processed at Gujrat FALO every day, they add.

They urged the federal government to take strict measure to check the corruption being committed by a “nexus between the FALO officials and the agent mafia” to protect people from exploitation.

Gujrat FALO office was established around a couple of years ago to accommodate the expatriate community, students, businessmen and labourers belonging to Gujrat and Gujranwala regions.

A majority of overseas Pakistanis, settled in Europe and other countries, belongs to these two regions.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2026