The Federal Investigation Agency arrested on Monday 22 foreigners for their part in illegally acquiring Computerised national identity cards from various National Database and Registration Authority centres in Balochistan, officials said.
The investigation team also arrested seven NADRA employees involved in issuing the identity cards to foreigners in NADRA’s Kharotabad centre, officials added.
Kharotabad, a suburb of provincial capital Quetta, is believed to house thousands of foreigners especially Afghans living in the region illegally. The presence of such individuals has become a major concern for law enforcement agencies due to added pressure from the US that the area also provides a sanctuary for the Quetta Shura, said a spokesperson for FIA in Quetta. Last year, five foreigners were shot dead by security personnel in Kharotabad.
FIA is vigilant to take notice of suspicious attempts being made by foreigners to obtain CNICs by using fake documents, he told The Express Tribune. “Foreigners were getting CNICs in connivance with NADRA officials,” the spokesperson said, adding that FIA’s investigation team from Islamabad will also visit Quetta later this week to gather more evidence against the involved officials.
Meanwhile, an official statement issued by NADRA confirmed Monday’s development stating, “The case has been handed over to an FIA team for further investigation.” NADRA’s vigilance cell also nabbed various foreigners and recovered fake CNICs and computers from their custody, said an official. “Together, we (FIA and NADRA) conducted the operation and recovered close to a hundred fake CNICs from the custody of aliens,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. Majority of the aliens were from Afghanistan, he said, adding that some of them were Iranians, who applied for CNICs.
“We used latest technology to study the trends of over-blown attestations by some individuals,” said NADRA Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik. “We filed cases against our own employees,” he said. Last week, an internal security wing registered complaints against the alleged involved officials, an official added.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2011.
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