LAHORE, Dec 21: The Federal Investigation Agency on Friday told the Lahore High Court that Interpol had been approached to help arrest Asim Malik, the chief executive officer of a visa consultancy firm charged with defrauding public on the pretext of sending them abroad.

During the hearing of over a hundred petitions against the firm, FIA Lahore Director Waqar Haider told the court Malik’s escape had been confirmed and the agency had officially sought Interpol’s assistance to arrest him.

On Haider’s request, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar directed the Civil Aviation Authority to provide to the FIA a CCTV footage and other relevant proof corroborating the accused’s escape.

The judge adjourned hearing until Jan 16 and directed the FIA director to submit a progress report.

Petitioners had pleaded that they had given money to the firm’s CEO for going abroad, but they had been defrauded. They said Malik neither sent them abroad nor returned their money.

The court had already ordered the FIA to confiscate the assets of Asim Malik and his dependents and also put his name on the ECL. On the court’s direction, Malik had surrendered his Pakistani passport, but did not submit his foreign passport despite repeated orders.