TOBA TEK SINGH: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Faisalabad zone claimed to have arrested the ringleader of an international human trafficking gang involved in forcing women to beg in Saudi Arabia on the pretext of Umrah.

An FIA composite circle spokesperson told the media on Saturday that an FIA team had arrested proclaimed offender Muhammad Sharif, who was a ringleader of an international human trafficking gang.

He said the suspect was arrested from Faisalabad airport on his arrival from Saudi Arabia. He said that a blue notice had also been issued against the accused by Interpol.

The spokesperson said that two accused Zahoor Ahmed and Muhammad Ghafoor of the same gang had been arrested earlier. He alleged that the accused persons used to smuggle innocent citizens to Saudi Arabia by promising them free Umrah and jobs, however, there they forced them to beg in an organised manner.

BOOKED: The Samundri city police booked a dozen men on Saturday for allegedly kidnapping and killing a trader over a monetary dispute.

Complainant Waqas claimed in his FIR that accused Shafaaqat and his 11 accomplices followed the car of his deceased brother Ilyas, a trader by profession, and abducted him at gunpoint at a store located at Samundri general bus stand.

He claimed the accused took his brother to a house located in the Shoukatabad locality, where they forced him to drink something and also tortured him. As a result, he fainted and the accused then took him to the Samundri THQ Hospital. He said the doctors referred his brother to the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology, where he later died.

Police were conducting raids to arrest the accused persons.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2025