ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested 14 proclaimed offenders and traced 84 others abroad during a crackdown across Islamabad and Rawalpindi, using bank records, Nadra data and locations obtained through the PTA, officials said on Thursday.

Interpol has been approached to pursue fugitives in cases ranging from human trafficking to bank fraud.

The operation was launched on the orders of FIA Islamabad Zone Director Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari, who directed all circles to form special teams and submit weekly progress reports on court absconders and proclaimed offenders. The FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad arrested three suspects and traced 62 others who had fled overseas.

The Rawalpindi AHTC unit arrested four offenders and located one abroad. The Anti-Corruption Circle arrested five proclaimed offenders and found 18 more residing in foreign countries. The Commercial Banks Circle detained two fugitives, with none traced abroad so far.

The Corporate Crime Circle identified three suspects living overseas. In total, 14 arrests were made while 84 suspects were found to be abroad, according to FIA data. Officials said the agency is using multiple tools to track fugitives, including obtaining CNIC and family data from Nadra, retrieving passport and travel histories, seeking bank and asset records, and tracing mobile locations through the PTA.

Names of suspects are being placed on the blacklist and the Provisional National Identification List to bar foreign travel. For those overseas, cases are being initiated through Interpol. Court proceedings under Section 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code have also begun to attach the properties of absconders.

Pakistan has struggled with fugitives fleeing abroad in recent years, particularly in human smuggling and financial crime cases. Interpol red notices are pending against dozens of Pakistanis, an official said. Meanwhile, the FIA has booked three men in separate visa fraud cases for allegedly duping citizens of over Rs1.1 million on the promise of jobs in Azerbaijan and Portugal.

In the first case, the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Islamabad registered an FIR against two suspects for taking Rs550,000 from a person on the pretext of securing a work visa for Azerbaijan.

The suspects neither arranged the promised work visa nor returned the money and instead provided the complainant with an education visa, according to the FIR.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2026