PESHAWAR, Dec 28: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has suspended an inspector at Peshawar international airport on charges of helping an Afghan national fly to United Kingdom on bogus travel documents, sources said on Wednesday.
FIA (immigration) Inspector Tahir Khan Durrani had been suspended by the agency’s director-general a couple of days ago, a senior official here confirmed. But, he said, that the official was suspended by the FIA headquarters in Islamabad even before the completion of inquiry by the provincial office here.
Immigration authorities at the Dubai airport deported Alizada Sulaiman on Dec 13 after keeping him in custody for a week. Mr Sulaiman was detained after he attempted to board a connecting flight of the Emirates airline from Dubai to Heathrow airport in London on fake British passport on December 6.
During his detention in Dubai, British High Commission’s air liaison officer in Islamabad, Mr Simon Grove, also interrogated him.
On his return to Islamabad he wrote a complaint letter to the FIA’s top immigration official and requested him to take action against officials who allowed him to travel to Dubai on fake travel documents.
But FIA officials in Peshawar told Dawn that Sulaiman travelled to Dubai on Afghan passport and from there he tried to continue his journey on fake British passport which he might have been concealed in his luggage.
The FIA immigration officials, they said, were not allowed to check luggage of every passengers.
Sources said that the
Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of FIA Islamabad conducted an inquiry on the complaint of British High Commission’s official and found Inspector Tahir Khan Durrani of allegedly conniving with the Afghan national.
The FIA immigration after the deportation of Mr Sulaiman sent him to the Federal Investigation Agency’s passport circle for investigation into the case.
But the SIU expressed its “no-confidence” on the passport circle’s inquiry and transferred the case from Peshawar to Islamabad five days ago, sources said.
The Special Investigation Unit after transferring the case recommended the FIA director general to suspend Inspector Tariq Durrani, they said.