Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) police arrested on Sunday 10 “sub-agents” allegedly involved in the smuggling of people to Europe via the Middle East and Africa, including those who died in the recent Greece boat tragedy.
On Wednesday, an overloaded boat — with around 750 people on board according to a European rescue support charity — sank in open seas off Greece. Many Pakistanis are feared dead although the exact number has not yet been officially confirmed.
The Foreign Office said on Saturday that 12 Pakistanis had been found alive as National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf urged the government to “immediately investigate” the incident.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a four-member committee to probe the facts of the shipwreck and directed law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to trace those involved in human smuggling.
Talking to media on Sunday, Kotli Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Riaz Mughal confirmed that 21 people from AJK had been aboard the ship and were missing.
He said 19 of these people belonged to Khuiratta and the remaining hailed from neighboring Charhoi. SSP Mughal revealed that as many as 10 “sub-agents” were arrested in AJK during the last 24 hours.
“The arrests were made after the police chalked out an effective strategy in the light of the information shared by the families of the victims about the persons who had trapped the victims into landing them in Europe against millions of rupees,” he told media.
Mughal said the suspects were booked under sections 418 (cheating with the knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to a person whose interest offender is bound to protect), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 322 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
“They were sub-agents or agents of main human traffickers Chaudhry Zulqarnain, Talat Kiani, and Khalid Mirza, who belong to Kotli and Mirpur and are based in Libya. “During the preliminary interrogation, the suspects made harrowing disclosures about how and for whom they operated and who else was involved in the ghastly business,” SSP Mughal said. He further said that the suspects charged Rs2.5 to Rs3 million from each person, and would fly them legally first to the UAE and then to Egypt and Libya. “From Libya, the illegal voyage started through the Mediterranean Sea.”
“We are on the lookout for some other suspects as well,” SSP Mughal said, adding that the arrested persons would be produced before a judicial magistrate on Monday for physical remand.
In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday the premier expressed grief at the incident and formed an inquiry committee to probe the matter.
Headed by National Police Bureau Director General Ehsan Sadiq, the committee comprises Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary (Africa) Javed Ahmed Umrani, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) DIG Sardar Zaheer Ahmad and FIA Joint Secretary Faisal Nisar.
According to the PMO statement, the terms of reference (TORs) of the committee include ascertaining the facts of the Greece boat tragedy, identifying loopholes and lapses in the legal/enforcement mechanism in Pakistan that “exposed precious human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking”, and analysing similar incidents in the past.
The committee would also take stock of the existing legal framework, enforcement measures in the country and international coordination to prevent, control and punish human smuggling.
Furthermore, it has been told to prepare short and long-term recommendations to apprehend facilitators, agents, masterminds, and rackets and eradicate the menace of human trafficking.
The committee shall submit its report within a week and can seek support from the Interior Division, the statement added.
Separately, in another statement released in the morning, the PMO said that PM Shehbaz directed LEAs to track down “agents” involved in human trafficking and called for bringing them to justice.
Further, on the instructions of the premier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had appointed DIG Alam Shinwari as the focal person to facilitate information regarding those who lost their lives in the incident and the injured.
The PMO handout said that the Azad Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary had also appointed a focal person to contact the Pakistani embassy in Greece and authorities in this regard, and for facilitating the injured and the deceased’s relatives.
PM Shehbaz also directed the FO to “immediately take action” on the boat capsizing and the reports of possible Pakistanis being among the victims.
Furthermore, the premier ordered Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to submit details via his ministry and submit a report after conducting an investigation into the matter.
“Best efforts should be made for all Pakistanis. I will not tolerate any laziness and incompetence,” the handout quoted the prime minister.
He also ordered for a help desk to be immediately established for the families of those affected by the incident so that they are “alerted with all details”.
The PMO statement further stated Shehbaz “strictly” directed Pakistani ambassadors in Greece and Egypt to “take emergency measures”.
PM Shehbaz expressed deep grief and sorrow at the Pakistani lives lost in the boat tragedy and instructed the embassy in Greece to look after the 12 citizens rescued.
The premier also said that June 19 (Monday) would be observed as the “Day of Mourning” across the country and the national flag would fly at half-mast.
