PESHAWAR, July 16: The Anti-Trafficking Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a man on charges of fraud and human trafficking, while hunt for the owner of a travel agency is under way.

A partner of the main accused, Shaukat, was arrested during a raid on Gulf Express Travel Agency in the cantonment area on Saturday, said FIA Assistant Director Saleh Mohammad.

The raid was conducted on the basis of information about alleged illegal activities of Amanatullah of Bannu, he said.

Amanat had a travel agency licence in Miramshah but he, in connivance with different airlines’ officials here, was selling tickets in Peshawar, causing loss to the national exchequer, the officials said.

He said tickets were cheaper in tribal areas as passengers did not have to pay certain taxes there. The accused were selling tickets in Peshawar with stamps of Miramshah, he said.

The two were also accused of getting genuine passports from some Pakistanis who had recently arrived from abroad, importing vehicles from Dubai, using them and then changing pictures on them for sending other people abroad after receiving huge amounts of money, he said.

“We also interrogated a person at the travel agency who had gone there to hand over a tampered passport to Amanat,” the FIA official said.

During the raid, the FIA seized a passport with changed picture and stamps with the travel agency’s address of Miramshah, he said.

Both the accused had been charged under Sections 419 and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Passport Act and the Travelling Agency Act, the official added.