The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration authorities foiled an attempt by a passenger to travel abroad using fake documents and offloaded him during immigration clearance, according to an FIA spokesperson on Thursday.
Officials said passenger Babar Khalid was referred to the General Reporting Office (GRO) after immigration staff found his documents suspicious during clearance for a flight to South Africa. During detailed scrutiny, the No Objection Certificate (NOC) presented by the passenger, allegedly issued by the Town Municipal Corporation Gadap, was declared fake and forged. Authorities also found the passenger’s departmental identification card suspicious, deepening concerns of document forgery. According to the FIA spokesperson, investigations revealed that the passenger had allegedly prepared the fake NOC with the assistance of his cousin, Osama Tariq.
Officials further stated that multiple fake NOC templates were recovered from the suspect’s mobile phone, indicating the possible existence of an organised forgery network. During interrogation, the passenger reportedly confessed to obtaining fraudulent documents to travel abroad.
The suspect was offloaded and handed over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) Karachi for legal action. The FIA said efforts against human smuggling and document forgery had been intensified, while other individuals linked to the network were also being traced.
