Man denied bail in BISP scam

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied bail to a man involved in defrauding people in the name of the Benazir Income Support Programme. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had arrested Muhammad Ashraf and recovered 33 SIMs from his custody. A deputy attorney general told the court that a gang operated by the suspect deprived people of money worth over Rs10 million. He said the FIA has arrested eight members of the gang so far. The gang used to mint money from poor people by sending fake messages on their mobile phones impersonating officials of the Benazir Income Support Programme. Dismissing the bail petition of the suspect, the court observed that such criminals should be kept behind bars. BISP was launched in 2008 to help financially disadvantaged people of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2017.