GUJRAT, Jan 9: The Federal Investigation Agency has failed to curb the menace of human trafficking, which has recently led to death of six youths desirous of going to Greece.

Chand, a resident of Budho Kalas (Lalamusa), told Dawn that his family gave Rs500,000 to one of their relatives of Moosa Kamala village, who sends people to abroad. Without disclosing name, he said, the agent took the money in August with a promise to send his brother, Waqas, to Greece.

He said Waqas, along with some other youths of the area, was first taken to Quetta from where the agent took them to Iran. After 20 days, Waqas informed his family on telephone that all of them had reached Istanbul.

Afterwards, Chand said, the family did not receive any news about Waqas for more than two months. In the first week of November, the family was informed by a resident of Gujrat that the entire group of youths had returned, except Waqas who died from cold on the Turkey-Greece border.

He also informed the family of Waqas that as they (youngsters) were not in a position to take his body along with them, he might be buried under snow. The family alleged that the agent had gone into hiding since then.

The second incident also took place during Ramazan (November) in which five youngsters died while two others went missing. Councillor Khizar Hayat of Chak Meerak, Mandi Bahauddin, was also among the victims.

During a visit to the village to which most of the victims belonged, it was learnt that Tawwakal (an agent of Mojianwala village) took Rs350,000 from 14 youths - Riaz Ahmad, Amjad Ali, Imran, Naeem Anjum, Nadeem, Allah Dita, Waheed Ahmad, Amjad Husain, Khizar Hayat, Asghar Ali, Zulfiqar and Shabbir (all belonging to Mandi Bahauddin), and Nasir and Afzal (of Gujrat) - to take them to Greece through Iran and Turkey.

A doctor of Phalia was the guarantor between the two parties and the agent took the amount in advance. The agent first took them to Quetta from where they entered Iran where he informed them that they had to cross the Turkish border on foot.

According to one version, they were passing through the hilly area known as Chand Tara Hill where they were caught in a snowstorm. However, the victims' families revealed that they were travelling when a mine exploded, killing five youths. Two others were grievously injured and as many fled. They claimed the agent left them in the lurch.

The dead were identified as councillor Khizar Hayat and Asghar of Chak Meerak, and Imran, Riaz and Amjad. The injured were identified as Zaheer and Zulfiqar of the same village.

They quoted Zaheer as claiming that the right leg of Zulfiqar was blown by the blast and he was admitted to a hospital in Turkey. The victims alleged that their agents had gone into hiding since the incident took place. The aggrieved families have demanded of the government higher-ups to take stern action against the human traffickers.