RAWALPINDI: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday sent 372 foreign nationals, arrested in two separate cases registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), to jail on judicial remand.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the FIA Islamabad Zone raided a plaza in a private housing society on Wednesday night and arrested 258 foreigners
A case has been registered against the suspects for their alleged activities contrary to their authorised visas under section 14 of the Foreigners Act.
Shortly after the FIA action, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency also conducted a raid on the call centre located on the premises and detained 114 foreigners, including 111 Chinese and three Vietnamese, for deriving financial benefits through online activities. They were booked under the PECA and other sections of the law.
Since the shifting of a large number of suspects to the court was not possible, the arrested foreigners were produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate Naseeruddin through video link for remand custody on Thursday. The court granted 14 days judicial remand for further investigation.
The plaza has already been declared a sub-jail by the chief commissioner Islamabad.
According to officials, FIA Islamabad Zone Director Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari received information about the presence of a large number of foreigners st the plaza and their alleged involvement in operating call centres and other activities.
It was revealed that the 258 people were from Vietnam, Indonesia, China, etc., and had come to Pakistan on visit, tourist and business visas.
The foreigners were present in a large call centrr-style setup in the plaza against whom allegations of business and commercial activities were brought to light.
It was found that the activities of the foreigners were not in line with the declared purposes of their visas.
The role of other people involved in the matter will be determined during the investigation, the officials said
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026
