LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed to have arrested 13 suspects allegedly involved in making illegal deductions from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments.

“During the raids conducted in various areas of Lahore and Nankana Sahib, FIA and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) teams nabbed the suspects allegedly involved in illegally deducting money from financial assistance meant for BISP beneficiaries,” an FIA press release said on Friday.

It says that the suspects were allegedly extorting Rs1,500 to Rs2,500 from each BISP beneficiary. The financial assistance is provided to deserving women.

The suspects were caught red-handed while receiving the illegal commission, the FIA says.

“At the time of the raids, a large number of deserving women were present at the payment centres to collect the financial assistance and were reportedly being subjected to unlawful deductions. During the raids, FIA recovered several computerised national identity cards (CNICs), registers, mobile phones, bank devices and other relevant material from the suspects,” it says.

Cases have been registered against the arrested suspects, the FIA adds.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2026