Four people offloaded at Islamabad Airport for attempting travel on fake visas

Individuals attempting to travel to New Zealand, hail from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar

Four passengers were offloaded at Islamabad International Airport on Thursday for allegedly attempting to travel on counterfeit work visas, according to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The individuals—Muhammad Imran, Mian Tauseef, Sultan Afzal, and Abdul Rehman—were set to board flight CZ8070 to New Zealand. They are said to belong to Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

During routine immigration checks, the work visas presented by the passengers were found to be suspected forgeries. Their passports also carried protector stamps from offices in Rawalpindi, Abbottabad and Peshawar, which further raised suspicion, officials said.

The FIA’s Anti-Human Smuggling Cell took the passengers into custody for further investigation and launched a probe to trace the agent allegedly involved in the racket. Officials said verification of the visas is under way.

Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has called for tighter immigration controls and protection for legal travellers, According to FIA, 451 individuals involved in human trafficking and illegal migration have been arrested in recent months.

In recent months, several reports have emerged of passengers with complete documentation being offloaded during immigration checks. Many travellers have complained of facing difficulties despite holding valid visas and travel papers.

Read: FIA probes offloading of workers at airports

The prime minister has directed authorities to ensure that passengers with valid travel documents are not treated as illegal immigrants during screening procedures.