FIA gets access to Interpol database

Facility will also be extended to all police forces across country in phased manner

ISLAMABAD:

The government has decided to provide the police force access to the Interpol database, which would help the country’s law-enforcement authorities fight crimes, especially sexual exploitation of children, cybercrimes and financial crimes.

In this regard, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) signed an agreement with the National Central Bureau-Interpol, Islamabad, (NCB-Pakistan). The agreement provided access to the Interpol data to three units of Islamabad police and the FIA.

The police forces and the other law-enforcement agencies of other provinces would also be given access to the database in a phased manner, officials said. Speaking at the ceremony, FIA Director General Mohsin Butt urged the law-enforcement agencies to use of Interpol data in their fight against crimes.

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“Only by employing the latest technologies and strengthening our international police linkages, can the police in Pakistan effectively meet the challenges of modern-day law enforcement”, Butt told the ceremony.

The FIA director general said that the agreements would enable the beneficiary agencies to access Interpol databases in real time, which would help them fight crime, especially the emerging crimes such as child sexual exploitation and cyber-enabled financial crimes.

Earlier, NCB-Pakistan Director Sikandar Hayat briefed the participants on the database programme and performance. “As a result of the signing of the agreements, the law-enforcement agencies will also be able to access various crime databases,” he said.

On the occasion, an Interpol delegation briefed the participants about the ‘iARMS’ database. They mentioned that with over one million records, ‘iARMS’ could help identify firearms, smuggling patterns and smuggling routes, adding that such crimes could be controlled with the help of the police.