ISLAMABAD, June 16: Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) here on Saturday arrested a joint secretary (JS) and a section officer (SO) of interior ministry for their alleged involvement in forgery, sources told Dawn.

Moreover, efforts were under way to trace and arrest a deputy secretary and an office superintendent of the ministry in the same case.

The arrests were made from separate locations of Islamabad during raids conducted by the SIU. They would be produced in the court of law for seeking their physical remand for interrogation, sources said.

An official of the FIA told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the agency was investigating the issue and during the act it spotted the officials of the ministry behind a forgery attempt. The matter was also brought to the knowledge of Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik during a meeting held on Friday.

The officials had allegedly sent a letter to a military adviser, a colonel, stationed in New York, asking him to extend the tenure of the 35 police officers, working with the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Mission abroad at different stations.

“The letter was sent without getting any approval from authorities concerned,” an insider told Dawn, adding that the issue came to light when the Pakistani official in New York replied in response to the forged letter sent to him.