FAISALABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has apprehended two individuals during separate operations in Faisalabad for their alleged roles in forced begging abroad and human smuggling, a spokesperson said on Sunday.
The detainees were identified as Muhammad Ismail and Salman Munawar.
According to the FIA, Ismail had been sending people to Malaysia under the guise of providing employment and, in collaboration with other partners, forcing them into begging. The agency stated that the case was initiated on the complaint of the Pakistan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Officials revealed that Ismail arranged for a man named Khalid to travel to Malaysia on the promise of a job but compelled him to beg upon arrival. They further alleged that Ismail and his accomplices had Khalid’s return ticket cancelled. Khalid was later discovered unconscious in a hotel and shifted to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
The FIA said that raids were ongoing to trace and detain additional members of the network, adding that efforts were underway to place their names on the stop list.
In a separate action, the agency arrested Salman Munawar for allegedly running an unregistered travel agency. The FIA reported recovering an agreement, a mobile phone, and stamp papers from his possession. Munawar is accused of extracting large sums of money from citizens by fraudulently offering to send them abroad.
