The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) immigration authorities offloaded a passenger attempting to travel to North Cyprus on a student visa after his educational documents were found to be suspicious, an FIA spokesperson said on Friday.
The passenger, identified as Muhammad Asim, a resident of Chakwal, was attempting to travel to North Cyprus when he was stopped during emigration clearance for further scrutiny.
According to the spokesperson, the counter officer referred the passenger to the Government Reporting Office (GRO) for detailed verification. During profiling and examination of his travel documents, officials conducted a thorough review of his educational credentials.
The passenger presented a Secondary School Certificate (2010) and a Higher Secondary School Certificate (2012) purportedly issued by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Islamabad. He also submitted a BS Computer Science degree and transcript allegedly issued by the University of Lahore.
However, during verification, the documents were found suspicious. Further technical scrutiny revealed that the QR code printed on the purported attestation label of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs redirected to a suspicious and unofficial website, raising strong doubts about the authenticity of the attestation.
During questioning, the passenger disclosed that he had obtained the educational documents through a consultant named Arsalan, associated with ATRAC Consultant located in DHA Phase II, Islamabad.
According to the passenger, he paid Rs1.3 million to the agent through an online transaction to arrange the documents.
Officials said the passenger told investigators that he intended to use the documents with the agent’s assistance to explore opportunities abroad.
During a search of the passenger’s laptop, several additional documents were recovered in PDF format, including alleged Secondary and Higher Secondary School Certificates issued by the Rawalpindi Board.
Authorities also found a purported certificate for the position of digital marketing manager issued by a US-based company, as well as an IELTS certificate.
Investigators also recovered social media account details, Gmail accounts, passport-related information and various URL sheets from the laptop.
In light of these findings, the passenger was offloaded and handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Karachi for further legal action.
Earlier, the FIA immigration authorities detained four passengers at Jinnah International Airport after they were allegedly found involved in begging activities in Saudi Arabia.
According to an FIA spokesperson, the action was taken by the Immigration Shift A upon the passengers’ arrival from Jeddah.
The passengers were identified as Huzoor Mai from Lahore while the other three belonging to Multan were identified as Rashid Ahmed, Inayat and Inayati who had returned to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia.
After being granted immigration clearance, the passengers were stopped by Inspector Ghazala Noreen on suspicion and subjected to detailed questioning. During interrogation, the passengers reportedly admitted that they had travelled to Saudi Arabia on Umrah visas and were involved in begging during their stay.
They disclosed that they had travelled to Saudi Arabia multiple times for the purpose of begging. During a search, authorities recovered foreign and local currency from their possession.
Additionally, a passport belonging to a woman identified as Najjo Mai, a resident of Multan, was recovered from the luggage of one of the passengers.
In the light of the findings, all the four passengers were taken into custody and handed over to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) Karachi. Further investigations are under way.
