New arrest made in boat tragedy case

Accused Saleem Saniara rounded up in Gujrat; three more nabbed in Lahore

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) made a significant breakthrough on Sunday in its crackdown against human smugglers, arresting one of the gang leaders involved in the Greece boat tragedy.

The accused, identified as Mohammad Saleem Saniara, was arrested from Gujrat by the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle. He was stated to the brother of Asif Saniara, the main culprit behind sending people, who drowned off the Greek coast last month.

On 14 June, a fishing boat carrying around 750 migrants, including at least 350 Pakistanis, capsized and sank in the international waters in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Pylos, Messenia, Greece.

The incident prompted the government to launch a countrywide crackdown against the human traffickers, taking several into custody for allegedly sending several Pakistanis to Europe through unauthorised means.

According to FIA sources, Saleem Saniara had been facing nine cases registered at the FIA Gujarat Circle. He used to be transferring money to his brother, Asif, through hawala transactions and had gone into hiding following the Greece shipwreck.

Asif Saniara, the brother of the arrested suspect, was stated to be residing in Libya, where he had established multiple safe houses. Further investigation is under way, according to an Express News report.

In another development, the FIA Anti-Human Smuggling Circle, Lahore, nabbed three wanted criminals, including a proclaimed offender involved in at least five cases of human smuggling crimes registered in 2018.

The arrested suspect, hailing from Lahore, had taken hefty sums from numerous citizens on the pretext of overseas employment. They had accumulated substantial amounts of money and had gone into hiding.

Furthermore, two individuals, Umair Maqsood and Aamir Maqsood, who had allegedly acquired large sums of money under the guise of employment in Saudi Arabia, were also apprehended in another operation.

Read Greece tragedy: Survivors say coastguard rope capsised boat

They were facing charges under the Immigration Ordinance, with more than eight complaints lodged against them. The suspects were arrested in Lahore and further investigation is under way.

Just days after the Greece boat sinking, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed two committees to investigate the tragic incident and identify legal loopholes that exposed human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking.

According to a government notification, the investigation committee would be headed by National Police Bureau (NPB) Director General Ehsan Sadiq and it would present its report to the government within one week about the tragedy.

The other committee would ascertain facts of the boat tragedy, identify loopholes and lapses in the legal and enforcement mechanism in Pakistan that exposed precious human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking.

It was also asked to prepare short- and long-term recommendations, including legislation, enforcement measures, awareness campaign and improvement of national and international coordination against human trafficking.

During a meeting in Lahore last week, the FIA had decided to blacklist the passports of the suspected human traffickers, involved in the tragedy and charge them under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The Lahore and Faisalabad directors told the FIA meeting that five inquiries had been opened until now and that 149 cases registered in their zones, while 41 human smugglers were arrested.

The FIA director general directed the authorities concerned to constitute more teams to arrest those involved in the incident. He ordered that all resources should be utilised to ensure that the culprits were could not escape from law.